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The Enchanters is one of NPR's Best Books of 2023
NPR's curated list of the "Best Books of 2023" includes, The Enchanters.
The review (link) concluded:
Marilyn Monroe's death has achieved myth status, and Ellroy's take on it is at once a superb crime novel about the city he's always written about, a love letter to a very different time, and a narrative that ensures the Freddy Otash novels will be mentioned along [with] the novels in The L.A. Quartet and the Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy as some of Ellroy's best work.
Make Ellroy a Part of Your Saturday Morning!!!!!
Saturday, November 18th with CBS Saturday Morning…every other Saturday with The Enchanters, or American Tabloid narrated by The Demon Dog himself!!!!!
American Tabloid Narrated by Ellroy Dropping Now!!!!!
You’re getting every word of the original book. It’s coming at you uncut, unabridged, unbowdlerized, and unexpurgated. You’re getting Mattress Jack Kennedy’s rise and fall from the perspective of the three rogue cops who will come to waste his punk ass in Dallas. The book takes no prisoners and spares no sensibilities. It’s 576 scalding pages — and a hot-wired hot rod to Hell. Ditto, the podcast. It runs 21 hours. Hotshot actors read the dialogue. El Jefe Ellroy himself reads the narration — and, man, what a baleful bass-baritone!!!!! Add on a sin-tillating late '50s/early ‘60s soundtrack and an array of savage sound effects. It all adds up to a carcinogenic cocktail that you’ve got to imbibe —
Get it!!!!!
The Three Questions with Andy Richter
Today on #ThreeQuestions legendary author James Ellroy joins @AndyRichter to discuss his “smog-bound fatherland” of Los Angeles, the tragic loss of his mother, his writing process, and his new novel, and more. Listen: https://listen.teamcoco.com/ellroy
“A riveting series of events made all the more vivid by the precision of the details...”
WaPo weighs in on The Enchanters:
“The fictionalized Otash plays the morally gray, unreliable narrator of a story that blends the real and imagined into the kind of atmospheric psychosexual spectacle fans have come to expect from the grand master of L.A.-noir…The plot of The Enchanters is sprawling yet intricate, a riveting series of events made all the more vivid by the precision of the details — the heavy wiretap surveillance opens up a prominent peripheral cast of hangers on, psychiatrists, pornographers and other petty criminals that swirl around the edges of the scene. Ellroy’s writing matches its sensational subject. Just a day into his kidnapping gig, Otash jumps off the sobriety wagon. Filtered through Freddy’s drug- and booze-addled but brilliant mind, the novel is vibrant and vivid, with a pungent whiff of decay.”
Read it!!!!! Washington Post
"A filthy, boozy, fast-paced, violent romp through the history and important figures of early 1960s Los Angeles, all told in Otash's frantic voice..."
Dig it!!!!! Reviewers are saying the Freddy Otash novels will be mentioned alongside the The L.A. Quartet and Underworld Trilogy as some of Ellroy's best work.
Look at this...
Ellroy keeps things moving at breakneck speed at all times, which is a fantastic feat considering this is a 448-page novel that delves deep into a plethora of scenes and seamlessly mixes fact and fiction. The trick to it is Ellroy's incomparable style; fast, punchy, telegrammatic prose that demands to be read quickly and that flows like an enraged river.
Read it!!!!!! Gabino Iglesias, NPR
Mr. Ellroy dazzles with his detailed knowledge of the geography and denizens of the City of Fallen Angels, his brutal action sequences, his imaginative daring and his more sympathetic female characters.
Read it!!!!!! Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal (or download)
There are no nice guys here, no heroes to support. Looking for a plucky underdog overcoming the odds and neatly saving the day, providing optimism and comfort? James Ellroy isn’t your man. Nothing so easy here...Likability can be boring, and Ellroy is a modern master of making his characters interesting instead of nice.
The pace is hold-onto-your-hat fast....The book is razor-sharp, rocket-fast, and always engaging.
Read it!!!!! Malcolm Mackay, Air Mail
CrimeReads: The Real Reason I Write
"Disingenuousness is a sin. I’m writing this essay in the spirit of atonement. My ongoing biography should be revised to reflect this..."
Read it at CrimeReads
Read an Excerpt of The Enchanters in Esquire Magazine
A Conspiracy in Brentwood
At the scene of Marilyn Monroe's death, the evidence isn't adding up. Overdose, suicide, or murder? Follow rogue cop Freddy Otash down the rabbit hole in James Ellroy's latest Hollywood noir...
Read it at Esquire.com
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