Like the first LA Quartet, these seem to work very nicely as duologies. I have been thinking on what it would be like to read these chronologically in the fiction. There are certainly characters and events in the future that augment the experience. After all, the full Dudley arc now includes these two books but take place before them. Maybe on a reread.

This book is even more ambitious I think. The satire and parody work, coupled with three ongoing investigations that trickle down into one, with characters in the later original quartet appearing as well. It’s certainly exceptional. Even when the characters digress into the same jokes and circle jerking and the filtering down to raw, brass tax motivations that comes from imbibing all manner of drugs 24/7. And as soon as someone gets close to the truth, of course Ellroy has a bullseye set on them. One of the rare times the historical fiction abides by the rule of law: what is historically known about any known quantities.

And then the real joke comes at the macro level. Because of course these people recycle and regurgitate the same jokes, same talking points, same arguments. You’ll hear, “Hung like a cashew” about a billion times and you won’t hear a kind word from any of these people, because Ellroy has contempt for absolutely everyone. And whether I googled Betty Davis or Howard Hughes or Orson Welles, the stuff that seems verifiable actually seems to check out. And so Ellroy peels back the paint to show the rank exterior.

It’s an odd, but gripping experience, not cheering for literally anyone at all, just watching the people with all the power and authority corrupt just about anything they can get ahold of. And so the cycle continues. Any kind of good gets stomped right out, like a butt on the ground.