American Tabloid
Encyclopedia
American Tabloid is a 1995 novel by James Ellroy
. The novel chronicles three rogue American law enforcement officers from November 22, 1958 through November 22, 1963. Each becomes entangled in a web of interconnecting associations between the FBI
, CIA
, and the Mafia
, which eventually leads to their involvement in the John F. Kennedy assassination
.
American Tabloid was Time
s Best Book (Fiction) for 1995. It is the first novel of the Underworld USA Trilogy, followed by The Cold Six Thousand
and Blood's a Rover
.
All chapters begin with the chapter number, the location (usually the name of the city), and the date ("MM/DD/YYYY"). The action of the book is completely sequential.
Each chapter has a limited third person narrative voice from the point of view of one of the three main characters. Interspersed between the chapters are "document inserts" reproducing newspaper clippings, letters, and transcripts of telephone calls. Flashbacks occur, but only in the present tense memory of the protagonists.
Largely an introductory passage, "Shakedowns" covers just 26 days, introducing the three principal characters, and establishing their relationships, history, and career trajectories. Pete Bondurant is a former LASD
deputy; he presently works for billionaire Howard Hughes
and runs small-time shakedown
s. (Bondurant is also an associate of Jimmy Hoffa
.) Kemper Boyd is a Federal Bureau of Investigation
agent, a southerner, and a man who covets wealth and power. Ward Littell is also an FBI agent and Boyd's friend and former partner. Although assigned to monitor Communist Party activities
, his abiding hatred of organized crime
leads him to vie for a spot on the Bureau's Top Hoodlum Squad.
Each of the three protagonists plot to entrap John F. Kennedy
with a call girl
; Boyd and Littell for J. Edgar Hoover
, Bondurant for Hughes. The set-up is successful, but the Kennedy family discovers that Hughes's "Hush-Hush" tabloid will print the transcripts before the issue went to press, and prevents their publication. At Hoover's direction, Boyd leaves the FBI and begins working with Hoover's personal nemeses - Kennedy and his younger brother Robert—on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management
's investigation of organized crime and union corruption. Boyd strikes a rapport with John Kennedy but dislikes Bobby. The Kennedys, with their wealth and privilege, embody everything that Boyd hopes to gain. Littell, who meets the Kennedys through Boyd, is enraptured by Bobby, both men sharing a hatred for organized crime.
"Collusion" opens with Cuba
n revolutionary
Fidel Castro
's January 1, 1959 overthrow of the Fulgencio Batista
government. The three principals begin to collude with one another to varying degrees. Bondurant and Boyd both become Central Intelligence Agency
operatives, while Littell investigates Hoffa and Mafia connections both officially for the FBI and on his own initiative. Boyd also joins the employ of the Kennedy family, working on JFK's presidential campaign. Bondurant and Boyd ultimately collaborate with the CIA, the "Outfit" (seeking to retake its now nationalized Havana
casinos
), and far right
Cuban refugees plotting to overthrow the new communist regime.
Littell becomes increasingly disgruntled with the FBI and Hoover's anti-communism
mandates and begins investigating the mob on his own. Much of this information he anonymously feeds to Bobby Kennedy through Boyd. Through a series of snitches, Littell confirms that the Teamsters Pension Fund is being used to fund organized crime. Littell tracks the Fund's supposed "secret" accounting books to the home of mid-level mobster Jules Schiffrin in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
. Littell coerces Jack Ruby
into searching Schiffrin's home. While waiting for Ruby, Littell is severely beaten by Bondurant; Ruby had tipped off Bondurant to Littell's operation, and Bondurant feared that Littell would endanger the CIA's Cuban plots.
After recuperating, Littell takes leave from the FBI, invades Schiffrin's home, and steals the Pension Fund's books himself. Cracking the books' code, he realizes that Joseph Kennedy loaned the Fund millions of dollars. Hoover fires Littell from the FBI, revokes his pension, and blackballs him as a communist sympathizer with every US state's bar association
in order to hurt his chances of practicing law. Boyd tries to get Littell a job with now-Attorney General
designate Bobby Kennedy, who emphatically refuses, also having received a report from Hoover of Littell's budding alcoholism
and invented mob ties.
"Collusion" concludes with the inauguration of Kennedy as President
.
In the employ of the CIA, Boyd and Bondurant help train the "Blessington Cadre": Cuban exiles training to overthrow Castro at a CIA camp in Florida. The exiles are recruited through Hoffa's "Tiger Kab" taxi stand in Miami. The CIA also establishes a Ku Klux Klan
"klavern" to keep "local rednecks" occupied and away from the camp.
The Mafia, through New Orleans
mob boss Carlos Marcello, funds the operation by supplying the cadre heroin for redistribution. As part of his organized crime vendetta, Bobby Kennedy has Marcello deported, unaware of (and uninterested in) Marcello's involvement in the CIA operation. Bondurant covertly absconds with Marcello when his INS
plane lands in Central America
.
Boyd recommends that Marcello hire Littell as his extradition lawyer. Littell meets Bondurant and Marcello at their Central American hideout, where Littell hands over the stolen Teamsters Pension Fund books (albeit without confessing to stealing them and without the pages implicating Joe Kennedy).
President Kennedy, unaware of Boyd's CIA connection, taps Boyd—now also working for Robert Kennedy's Justice Department
civil rights task force—to investigate the Blessington operation and advise whether to implement the CIA's invasion strategy. After a sham visit, Boyd naturally encourages the president to authorize the mission, promising Kennedy that it will guarantee his reelection.
The Bay of Pigs Invasion
is authorized, although Kennedy second-guesses its wisdom and refuses to provide the air support that the Cadre believes necessary. The invasion is a failure and an embarrassment for Kennedy and all involved—including the CIA, the mob, Bondurant, and Boyd. The night of the invasion, Boyd is shot numerous times in a side operation to distribute "hot shots" of heroin that would be linked back to Castro.
Through the patronage of Marcello, Littell has become a full-fledged mob lawyer. When Hoffa hires him, it confirms that Bobby Kennedy has become his primary adversary. Through their now-mutual hatred of the Kennedys, Littell and Hoover make amends, and Hoover arranges for Howard Hughes to become Littell's client.
In the wake of the Bay of Pigs, Boyd and Bondurant encourage the mob to authorize an assassination attempt on Castro. When the mob passes on the opportunity, they surmise that the mob is now backing Castro. Enraged, they execute a plan wherein they steal millions of dollars of mob heroin as it comes to shore from Cuba in hopes of recouping their Bay of Pigs losses.
In collusion with Littell, Bondurant also begins running a wire tap hoping to catch the president having an affair with a woman they have set up. They make several recordings of Kennedy, which they also share with Hoover. Boyd, however, remains fond of Jack, and becomes enraged when he discovers the scam. When he confronts Bondurant, Bondurant plays him sections from the tapes of Jack ridiculing Boyd, his social-climbing, and his Kennedy envy. Ironically, Bobby Kennedy (learning of Boyd's CIA connection and erratic behavior upon discovering the wire tap), fingers Boyd as the person trying to set up the president; he fires Boyd from the Justice Department, severing his ties with the Kennedys, and making an enemy of Boyd.
The mob also figures out that Boyd and Bondurant were behind the theft of their heroin. Littell offers them the mob's price to atone for their theft: Kill President Kennedy.
Boyd, Bondurant, and Littell plot to assassinate Kennedy during a motorcade in Miami and arrange the logistics to frame left-wing radicals. Without being specific, Littell tips off Hoover about the plot, but due to Hoover's non-committal response, Littell surmises that there is a second assassination plot in the works, which will take place several days later in Dallas. The three men determine that they were set up, and begin to clean up and cover up the tracks of their Miami operation.
Littell visits Bobby Kennedy, confronting him with evidence of his father's collusion with the mob, with the added intent that it will serve as an after-the-fact explanation of why Jack would be killed.
After killing several of the Miami conspirators, Bondurant leaves for Dallas while Boyd returns to Mississippi
. Littell is waiting for Boyd at his hotel; Littell shoots Boyd, who dies thinking of Jack Kennedy. Bondurant, his new wife Barb Jahelka, and several mob associates, converge on Dallas on November 22, 1963. The book ends at 12:30 PM, as Kennedy's motorcade drives through Dealey Plaza
, with Bondurant closing his eyes, awaiting the shots and screams.
.
Resemblances:
Bondurant bears superficial resemblances to historical figures Fred Otash, (so-called "private-eye to the stars") and Robert Maheu
, (who worked for both Hughes and Jimmy Hoffa
during the time frame depicted in the book). He also bears resemblances to earlier Ellroy creation, Buzz Meeks, another Hughes bodyguard, who appeared in The Big Nowhere
, L.A. Confidential
and the short-story "Since I Don't Have You," which appeared in Hollywood Nocturnes
.
Other Appearances:
Bondurant first appears in White Jazz
as a secondary character who only superficially resembles the character who appears in American Tabloid. There is a time-frame overlap between the two books which leads to some inconsistencies, such as that regarding the deteriorating mental state of his employer, Howard Hughes. Bondurant's reappearance as a main protagonist of American Tabloid is consistent with Ellroy's practice of reviving characters from previous books. He also is a main character of The Cold Six Thousand.
Story Arc:
Like the other protagonists, Bondurant experiences apostasy during the Bay of Pigs invasion, the book's approximate mid-point. At the beginning of the novel he is a ruthless killer but he is bored with his life. He relocates from Los Angeles to Miami to become involved in the Cuban "Cause." His chief motive in this is money and, although his political views are dismissed by hardline anti-communists as "unenlightened," he is committed and loyal to the cause. When the invasion has failed, his commitment begins to take the form of obsession and he begins to exercise dangerously poor judgement. He undertakes rogue actions that earn the extreme displeasure of his equally ruthless employers, but his life is spared as he remains a useful resource to them. His chief characteristic in the second half of the novel is a deep gnawing fear.
Kemper Boyd is an FBI agent who, in 1958, is recruited by J. Edgar Hoover to infiltrate the Kennedy organization. This assignment leads him to gain CIA contacts, as well as employment to influence the future President Kennedy to take an anti-Castro stance in his Cuban policy. It also puts him in the position to organize the collaboration between "Cosa Nostra" and the CIA in the Cuban cause. He falls in love with a beautiful woman, Laura Hughes; Laura is the (allegedly, in the book) hidden daughter of Gloria Swanson
and Joseph P. Kennedy
, half sister of the Kennedy brothers.
Resemblances:
Although Boyd may not be modelled on any specific historical figure, he bears an historical resemblance to Frank Sinatra
, who was known as a Kennedy insider prior to the Kennedy Presidency. He procures women for JFK during the 1960 election campaign and is instrumental in convincing Cosa Nostra figures to give their support to the Kennedys. He also bears resemblance to David Klein, the protagonist of White Jazz, in that he is a dashing and charming rogue cop who is brutally humbled by the consequences of his actions.
Boyd also bears a resemblance to Robert Maheu
, a close friend of the Kennedy brothers and former FBI agent who admitted to involvement in a conspiracy to kill Fidel Castro and has been linked to the JFK assassination.
Other appearances:
Boyd is a distinctive creation in that he appears only in one novel. He is mentioned in The Cold Six Thousand by name only. In this he also resembles David Klein, who appears only in White Jazz but is mentioned by name in Tabloid.
Story Arc:
In the first half of the novel, Boyd can be fairly described as charming but shallow. He is motivated mostly by money and his own sense of bravado. He takes heedless risks and conducts himself with such flair that he captivates those around him, allowing him to generate an extremely complex system of alliances and loyalties. This leads him to "overextend" his capacities. During the Bay of Pigs time-frame, he receives a gunshot wound in the shoulder, and this, coupled with the drugs he is administered during convalescence, seems to be the underlying cause of his apostasy. In the second half of the novel, he is no longer primarily concerned with appearances and his own sense of invincibility, and he purses his objectives with a doggedness that borders on zeal. Most tellingly, he begins to show an egalitarian
streak, prompting him to protect, defend and avenge those who are traditionally oppressed. This change, however, is not enough to prevent him being destroyed by the actions he took in the first half of the novel.
Ward Littell is an FBI agent clandestinely investigating organized crime activity in direct defiance of his employer. He is punished for his treachery and dismissed from the FBI but secures employment as a "Mob" Lawyer and wins his way back into his employer's good graces.
Other appearances:
Littell appears as a protagonist in The Cold Six Thousand.
Story Arc:
At the outset, Littell is the classic underdog: victimised, unappreciated and lonely. Although he is perceived as "weak" and "cowardly" by many, those who know him best consider him courageous and bold, but untested. He has a weakness for alcohol that inhibits his abilities. When he investigates organized crime activity he frequently witnesses extreme acts of brutality, and this enables him to find inner strength and a taste for danger. At the mid-point of the book, when things seem most hopeless for him, he acquires a means to hurt his enemies that indicates a turnaround in his fortunes. During the Bay of Pigs, he experiences an apostasy that causes him to reverse his former loyalties, working close with his former enemies and against his former friends. His fortunes increase throughout the second half of the novel until he has reached a considerable position of influence and power, although he remains compromised by his beliefs. In the second book he begins with a strong source of power and works behind the scenes on such plots such as JFK assassination. His meek and lonely image has now been dropped, showing a highly competent and cynical operator much like Pete. However in the second half of the book his former beliefs come back to him and ultimately abandons his position of power to support Robert Kennedy. An act that is his downfall.
Other members of the historical cast include mob bosses Sam Giancana
, Carlos Marcello
, Santo Trafficante, Jr.
, and John Roselli
, Peter Lawford
, Frank Sinatra
, and J. D. Tippit
.
optioned the rights to produce and star in a TV miniseries
based on American Tabloid and The Cold Six-Thousand. Willis's option expired before he produced the series.
In 2008, Daily Variety reported that HBO, along with Tom Hanks
's production company, Playtone
, were developing Tabloid and Six-Thousand (and, presumably after publication, Blood's a Rover
) for either a mini-series or ongoing series. Screenwriter Kirk Ellis is drafting a screenplay for the potential series.
James Ellroy
Lee Earle "James" Ellroy is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a so-called "telegraphic" prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, staccato sentences, and in particular for the novels The Black...
. The novel chronicles three rogue American law enforcement officers from November 22, 1958 through November 22, 1963. Each becomes entangled in a web of interconnecting associations between the FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
, CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
, and the Mafia
American Mafia
The American Mafia , is an Italian-American criminal society. Much like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has no formal name and is a secret criminal society. Its members usually refer to it as Cosa Nostra or by its English translation "our thing"...
, which eventually leads to their involvement in the John F. Kennedy assassination
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
.
American Tabloid was Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
s Best Book (Fiction) for 1995. It is the first novel of the Underworld USA Trilogy, followed by The Cold Six Thousand
The Cold Six Thousand
The Cold Six Thousand is a 2001 crime fiction novel by James Ellroy. It is the first sequel to American Tabloid in the Underworld USA Trilogy and continues many of the earlier novel's characters and plotlines...
and Blood's a Rover
Blood's a Rover
Blood's a Rover is a 2009 crime fiction novel by American author James Ellroy. It follows American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand as the final volume of Ellroy's Underworld USA Trilogy. A 10,000-word excerpt was published in the December 2008 issue of Playboy...
.
Structure
American Tabloid is divided into five sections, is exactly one hundred chapters long (many are less than a page in length), and covers exactly five years. The narration eschews both exposition and lengthy dialog exchanges.All chapters begin with the chapter number, the location (usually the name of the city), and the date ("MM/DD/YYYY"). The action of the book is completely sequential.
Each chapter has a limited third person narrative voice from the point of view of one of the three main characters. Interspersed between the chapters are "document inserts" reproducing newspaper clippings, letters, and transcripts of telephone calls. Flashbacks occur, but only in the present tense memory of the protagonists.
Plot summary
- Part I, SHAKEDOWNS, November-December 1958
Largely an introductory passage, "Shakedowns" covers just 26 days, introducing the three principal characters, and establishing their relationships, history, and career trajectories. Pete Bondurant is a former LASD
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is a local county law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. It is the fourth largest local policing agency in the United States, with the New York City Police Department being the first. The second largest is the Chicago Police...
deputy; he presently works for billionaire Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
and runs small-time shakedown
Shakedown
Shakedown may refer to:* Shakedown , a type of plastic deformation* Shakedown or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft...
s. (Bondurant is also an associate of Jimmy Hoffa
Jimmy Hoffa
James Riddle "Jimmy" Hoffa was an American labor union leader....
.) Kemper Boyd is a Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
agent, a southerner, and a man who covets wealth and power. Ward Littell is also an FBI agent and Boyd's friend and former partner. Although assigned to monitor Communist Party activities
COINTELPRO
COINTELPRO was a series of covert, and often illegal, projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations.COINTELPRO tactics included discrediting targets through psychological...
, his abiding hatred of organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
leads him to vie for a spot on the Bureau's Top Hoodlum Squad.
Each of the three protagonists plot to entrap John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
with a call girl
Call girl
A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who is not visible to the general public; nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency...
; Boyd and Littell for J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
, Bondurant for Hughes. The set-up is successful, but the Kennedy family discovers that Hughes's "Hush-Hush" tabloid will print the transcripts before the issue went to press, and prevents their publication. At Hoover's direction, Boyd leaves the FBI and begins working with Hoover's personal nemeses - Kennedy and his younger brother Robert—on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management
United States Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management
The United States Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management was a select committee created by the United States Senate on January 30, 1957, and dissolved on March 31, 1960...
's investigation of organized crime and union corruption. Boyd strikes a rapport with John Kennedy but dislikes Bobby. The Kennedys, with their wealth and privilege, embody everything that Boyd hopes to gain. Littell, who meets the Kennedys through Boyd, is enraptured by Bobby, both men sharing a hatred for organized crime.
- Part II, COLLUSION, January 1959-January 1961
"Collusion" opens with Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n revolutionary
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
's January 1, 1959 overthrow of the Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution....
government. The three principals begin to collude with one another to varying degrees. Bondurant and Boyd both become Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
operatives, while Littell investigates Hoffa and Mafia connections both officially for the FBI and on his own initiative. Boyd also joins the employ of the Kennedy family, working on JFK's presidential campaign. Bondurant and Boyd ultimately collaborate with the CIA, the "Outfit" (seeking to retake its now nationalized Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
casinos
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
), and far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
Cuban refugees plotting to overthrow the new communist regime.
Littell becomes increasingly disgruntled with the FBI and Hoover's anti-communism
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
mandates and begins investigating the mob on his own. Much of this information he anonymously feeds to Bobby Kennedy through Boyd. Through a series of snitches, Littell confirms that the Teamsters Pension Fund is being used to fund organized crime. Littell tracks the Fund's supposed "secret" accounting books to the home of mid-level mobster Jules Schiffrin in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Lake Geneva is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,148 at the 2000 census. A resort city located on Geneva Lake, it is southwest of Milwaukee and popular with tourists from metropolitan Chicago and Milwaukee.-History:...
. Littell coerces Jack Ruby
Jack Ruby
Jacob Leon Rubenstein , who legally changed his name to Jack Leon Ruby in 1947, was convicted of the November 24, 1963 murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy. Ruby, who was originally from Chicago, Illinois, was then a nightclub operator in Dallas, Texas...
into searching Schiffrin's home. While waiting for Ruby, Littell is severely beaten by Bondurant; Ruby had tipped off Bondurant to Littell's operation, and Bondurant feared that Littell would endanger the CIA's Cuban plots.
After recuperating, Littell takes leave from the FBI, invades Schiffrin's home, and steals the Pension Fund's books himself. Cracking the books' code, he realizes that Joseph Kennedy loaned the Fund millions of dollars. Hoover fires Littell from the FBI, revokes his pension, and blackballs him as a communist sympathizer with every US state's bar association
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
in order to hurt his chances of practicing law. Boyd tries to get Littell a job with now-Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
designate Bobby Kennedy, who emphatically refuses, also having received a report from Hoover of Littell's budding alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and invented mob ties.
"Collusion" concludes with the inauguration of Kennedy as President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
.
- Part III, PIGS, February–November 1961
In the employ of the CIA, Boyd and Bondurant help train the "Blessington Cadre": Cuban exiles training to overthrow Castro at a CIA camp in Florida. The exiles are recruited through Hoffa's "Tiger Kab" taxi stand in Miami. The CIA also establishes a Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
"klavern" to keep "local rednecks" occupied and away from the camp.
The Mafia, through New Orleans
New Orleans crime family
The New Orleans crime family is one of the oldest American criminal organizations in activity. It is based in New Orleans and parts of southern Louisiana in the United States. Its status today is unknown, as it remained in the shadows since 1993...
mob boss Carlos Marcello, funds the operation by supplying the cadre heroin for redistribution. As part of his organized crime vendetta, Bobby Kennedy has Marcello deported, unaware of (and uninterested in) Marcello's involvement in the CIA operation. Bondurant covertly absconds with Marcello when his INS
Immigration and Naturalization Service
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service , now referred to as Legacy INS, ceased to exist under that name on March 1, 2003, when most of its functions were transferred from the Department of Justice to three new components within the newly created Department of Homeland Security, as...
plane lands in Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
.
Boyd recommends that Marcello hire Littell as his extradition lawyer. Littell meets Bondurant and Marcello at their Central American hideout, where Littell hands over the stolen Teamsters Pension Fund books (albeit without confessing to stealing them and without the pages implicating Joe Kennedy).
President Kennedy, unaware of Boyd's CIA connection, taps Boyd—now also working for Robert Kennedy's Justice Department
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
civil rights task force—to investigate the Blessington operation and advise whether to implement the CIA's invasion strategy. After a sham visit, Boyd naturally encourages the president to authorize the mission, promising Kennedy that it will guarantee his reelection.
The Bay of Pigs Invasion
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The invasion was launched in April 1961, less than three months...
is authorized, although Kennedy second-guesses its wisdom and refuses to provide the air support that the Cadre believes necessary. The invasion is a failure and an embarrassment for Kennedy and all involved—including the CIA, the mob, Bondurant, and Boyd. The night of the invasion, Boyd is shot numerous times in a side operation to distribute "hot shots" of heroin that would be linked back to Castro.
- Part IV, HEROIN, December 1961-September 1963
Through the patronage of Marcello, Littell has become a full-fledged mob lawyer. When Hoffa hires him, it confirms that Bobby Kennedy has become his primary adversary. Through their now-mutual hatred of the Kennedys, Littell and Hoover make amends, and Hoover arranges for Howard Hughes to become Littell's client.
In the wake of the Bay of Pigs, Boyd and Bondurant encourage the mob to authorize an assassination attempt on Castro. When the mob passes on the opportunity, they surmise that the mob is now backing Castro. Enraged, they execute a plan wherein they steal millions of dollars of mob heroin as it comes to shore from Cuba in hopes of recouping their Bay of Pigs losses.
In collusion with Littell, Bondurant also begins running a wire tap hoping to catch the president having an affair with a woman they have set up. They make several recordings of Kennedy, which they also share with Hoover. Boyd, however, remains fond of Jack, and becomes enraged when he discovers the scam. When he confronts Bondurant, Bondurant plays him sections from the tapes of Jack ridiculing Boyd, his social-climbing, and his Kennedy envy. Ironically, Bobby Kennedy (learning of Boyd's CIA connection and erratic behavior upon discovering the wire tap), fingers Boyd as the person trying to set up the president; he fires Boyd from the Justice Department, severing his ties with the Kennedys, and making an enemy of Boyd.
The mob also figures out that Boyd and Bondurant were behind the theft of their heroin. Littell offers them the mob's price to atone for their theft: Kill President Kennedy.
- Part V, CONTRACT, September–November 1963
Boyd, Bondurant, and Littell plot to assassinate Kennedy during a motorcade in Miami and arrange the logistics to frame left-wing radicals. Without being specific, Littell tips off Hoover about the plot, but due to Hoover's non-committal response, Littell surmises that there is a second assassination plot in the works, which will take place several days later in Dallas. The three men determine that they were set up, and begin to clean up and cover up the tracks of their Miami operation.
Littell visits Bobby Kennedy, confronting him with evidence of his father's collusion with the mob, with the added intent that it will serve as an after-the-fact explanation of why Jack would be killed.
After killing several of the Miami conspirators, Bondurant leaves for Dallas while Boyd returns to Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
. Littell is waiting for Boyd at his hotel; Littell shoots Boyd, who dies thinking of Jack Kennedy. Bondurant, his new wife Barb Jahelka, and several mob associates, converge on Dallas on November 22, 1963. The book ends at 12:30 PM, as Kennedy's motorcade drives through Dealey Plaza
Dealey Plaza
Dealey Plaza , in the historic West End district of downtown Dallas, Texas , is the location of the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
, with Bondurant closing his eyes, awaiting the shots and screams.
Main characters
Pete Bondurant. AKA Frenchman Pete, AKA The Shakedown King. A French-Canadian, ex-law enforcement, Hollywood insider, organized-crime associate and bodyguard for Howard HughesHoward Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
.
Resemblances:
Bondurant bears superficial resemblances to historical figures Fred Otash, (so-called "private-eye to the stars") and Robert Maheu
Robert Maheu
Robert Aime Maheu was an American businessman and lawyer, who worked for the FBI, CIA and as the chief executive of Nevada operations for the industrialist Howard Hughes.-Biography:...
, (who worked for both Hughes and Jimmy Hoffa
Jimmy Hoffa
James Riddle "Jimmy" Hoffa was an American labor union leader....
during the time frame depicted in the book). He also bears resemblances to earlier Ellroy creation, Buzz Meeks, another Hughes bodyguard, who appeared in The Big Nowhere
The Big Nowhere
The Big Nowhere is a 1988 crime fiction novel by James Ellroy, the second of the L.A. Quartet, a series of novels set in 1940s and 1950s Los Angeles.-Plot:...
, L.A. Confidential
L.A. Confidential
L.A. Confidential is a 1997 American film based on James Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same title, the third book in his L.A. Quartet. Both the book and the film tell the story of a group of LAPD officers in the 1950s, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity...
and the short-story "Since I Don't Have You," which appeared in Hollywood Nocturnes
Hollywood Nocturnes
Hollywood Nocturnes is a 1994 collection of short stories by James Ellroy. Like many of Ellroy's novels, the majority of the stories are set in 1940s and 1950s. The collection was inspired by Ellroy's having seen the film Daddy-O and finding cosmic significance in the image of Dick Contino, whom...
.
Other Appearances:
Bondurant first appears in White Jazz
White Jazz
White Jazz is a 1992 crime fiction novel by James Ellroy. It is the fourth in his L.A. Quartet, preceded by The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, and L.A. Confidential....
as a secondary character who only superficially resembles the character who appears in American Tabloid. There is a time-frame overlap between the two books which leads to some inconsistencies, such as that regarding the deteriorating mental state of his employer, Howard Hughes. Bondurant's reappearance as a main protagonist of American Tabloid is consistent with Ellroy's practice of reviving characters from previous books. He also is a main character of The Cold Six Thousand.
Story Arc:
Like the other protagonists, Bondurant experiences apostasy during the Bay of Pigs invasion, the book's approximate mid-point. At the beginning of the novel he is a ruthless killer but he is bored with his life. He relocates from Los Angeles to Miami to become involved in the Cuban "Cause." His chief motive in this is money and, although his political views are dismissed by hardline anti-communists as "unenlightened," he is committed and loyal to the cause. When the invasion has failed, his commitment begins to take the form of obsession and he begins to exercise dangerously poor judgement. He undertakes rogue actions that earn the extreme displeasure of his equally ruthless employers, but his life is spared as he remains a useful resource to them. His chief characteristic in the second half of the novel is a deep gnawing fear.
Kemper Boyd is an FBI agent who, in 1958, is recruited by J. Edgar Hoover to infiltrate the Kennedy organization. This assignment leads him to gain CIA contacts, as well as employment to influence the future President Kennedy to take an anti-Castro stance in his Cuban policy. It also puts him in the position to organize the collaboration between "Cosa Nostra" and the CIA in the Cuban cause. He falls in love with a beautiful woman, Laura Hughes; Laura is the (allegedly, in the book) hidden daughter of Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson was an American actress, singer and producer. She was one of the most prominent stars during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille, made dozens of silents and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the...
and Joseph P. Kennedy
Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.
Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Sr. was a prominent American businessman, investor, and government official....
, half sister of the Kennedy brothers.
Resemblances:
Although Boyd may not be modelled on any specific historical figure, he bears an historical resemblance to Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, who was known as a Kennedy insider prior to the Kennedy Presidency. He procures women for JFK during the 1960 election campaign and is instrumental in convincing Cosa Nostra figures to give their support to the Kennedys. He also bears resemblance to David Klein, the protagonist of White Jazz, in that he is a dashing and charming rogue cop who is brutally humbled by the consequences of his actions.
Boyd also bears a resemblance to Robert Maheu
Robert Maheu
Robert Aime Maheu was an American businessman and lawyer, who worked for the FBI, CIA and as the chief executive of Nevada operations for the industrialist Howard Hughes.-Biography:...
, a close friend of the Kennedy brothers and former FBI agent who admitted to involvement in a conspiracy to kill Fidel Castro and has been linked to the JFK assassination.
Other appearances:
Boyd is a distinctive creation in that he appears only in one novel. He is mentioned in The Cold Six Thousand by name only. In this he also resembles David Klein, who appears only in White Jazz but is mentioned by name in Tabloid.
Story Arc:
In the first half of the novel, Boyd can be fairly described as charming but shallow. He is motivated mostly by money and his own sense of bravado. He takes heedless risks and conducts himself with such flair that he captivates those around him, allowing him to generate an extremely complex system of alliances and loyalties. This leads him to "overextend" his capacities. During the Bay of Pigs time-frame, he receives a gunshot wound in the shoulder, and this, coupled with the drugs he is administered during convalescence, seems to be the underlying cause of his apostasy. In the second half of the novel, he is no longer primarily concerned with appearances and his own sense of invincibility, and he purses his objectives with a doggedness that borders on zeal. Most tellingly, he begins to show an egalitarian
Egalitarianism
Egalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality of some sort among moral agents, whether persons or animals. Emphasis is placed upon the fact that equality contains the idea of equity of quality...
streak, prompting him to protect, defend and avenge those who are traditionally oppressed. This change, however, is not enough to prevent him being destroyed by the actions he took in the first half of the novel.
Ward Littell is an FBI agent clandestinely investigating organized crime activity in direct defiance of his employer. He is punished for his treachery and dismissed from the FBI but secures employment as a "Mob" Lawyer and wins his way back into his employer's good graces.
Other appearances:
Littell appears as a protagonist in The Cold Six Thousand.
Story Arc:
At the outset, Littell is the classic underdog: victimised, unappreciated and lonely. Although he is perceived as "weak" and "cowardly" by many, those who know him best consider him courageous and bold, but untested. He has a weakness for alcohol that inhibits his abilities. When he investigates organized crime activity he frequently witnesses extreme acts of brutality, and this enables him to find inner strength and a taste for danger. At the mid-point of the book, when things seem most hopeless for him, he acquires a means to hurt his enemies that indicates a turnaround in his fortunes. During the Bay of Pigs, he experiences an apostasy that causes him to reverse his former loyalties, working close with his former enemies and against his former friends. His fortunes increase throughout the second half of the novel until he has reached a considerable position of influence and power, although he remains compromised by his beliefs. In the second book he begins with a strong source of power and works behind the scenes on such plots such as JFK assassination. His meek and lonely image has now been dropped, showing a highly competent and cynical operator much like Pete. However in the second half of the book his former beliefs come back to him and ultimately abandons his position of power to support Robert Kennedy. An act that is his downfall.
Secondary characters
Secondary characters, which consist of fictional characters as well as historical figures, include:- J. Edgar HooverJ. Edgar HooverJohn Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
: Director of the FBI, Hoover appears on page 340, but his presence is made through letters and transcripts of telephone conversations, primarily with Boyd.
- John F. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
: Massachusetts senator, presidential candidate, and President of the United States. Kennedy begins the novel as a member of the McClellan CommitteeUnited States Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and ManagementThe United States Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management was a select committee created by the United States Senate on January 30, 1957, and dissolved on March 31, 1960...
, which is charged with investigating organized crime.
- Robert F. KennedyRobert F. KennedyRobert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
: Special counsel to the McClellan Committee, named U.S. Attorney General by his brother.
- Joseph P. Kennedy: Father of the Kennedy brothers. After making his fortune as a bootleggerRum-runningRum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
during ProhibitionProhibitionProhibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, Joe Kennedy has loaned millions of dollars to the mafia through the TeamstersTeamstersThe International Brotherhood of Teamsters is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of several local and regional locals of teamsters, the union now represents a diverse membership of blue-collar and professional workers in both the public and private sectors....
Pension Fund.
- Jimmy HoffaJimmy HoffaJames Riddle "Jimmy" Hoffa was an American labor union leader....
: President of the Teamsters union, Hoffa maintains close connections to organized crime, lending the mafia millions of dollars through the Teamsters Pension Fund.
- Howard HughesHoward HughesHoward Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
: Reclusive, eccentric and mentally disturbed, Hughes plans to take over the mafia's casinoCasinoIn modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
s in Las VegasLas Vegas StripThe Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
to establish a "germ-free environment" for his residence.
- Guy BanisterGuy BanisterWilliam Guy Banister was a career member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a private investigator. He gained notoriety from the allegations made by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, after Banister's death, that he had been involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy...
: Ex-FBI agent and current CIA liaison, Banister helps establish a militia of anti-communist Cuban refugees, the "Blessington Cadre."
- John Stanton: Banister's associate, also with the CIA.
- Lenny Sands: A nightclub singer with mob ties, Littell conscripts Sands as a snitch.
- Jack RubyJack RubyJacob Leon Rubenstein , who legally changed his name to Jack Leon Ruby in 1947, was convicted of the November 24, 1963 murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy. Ruby, who was originally from Chicago, Illinois, was then a nightclub operator in Dallas, Texas...
: Dallas nightclub owner with ties to organized crime.
- Jules Schiffrin: A small-time mobster who keeps the real books of the Teamsters Pension Fund.
- Chuck RogersCharles Rogers (murder suspect)Charles Rogers, was a United States geologist, pilot, and suspected murderer....
: Ex-CIA agent and pilot who enters the service of the Blessington Cadre.
- Laura Hughes: Illegitimate daughter of Joe Kennedy and Gloria Swanson who has taken Howard Hughes's last name just to spite her father.
- Helen Agee: College friend of Littell's daughter who becomes romantically involved with Littell.
- Barb Jahelka: Los Angeles singer and shakedown artist.
- Nestor Chasco: A virulent anti-Castro member of the Blessington Cadre.
Other members of the historical cast include mob bosses Sam Giancana
Sam Giancana
Salvatore Giancana , better known as Sam Giancana, was a Sicilian-American mobster and boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957-1966...
, Carlos Marcello
Carlos Marcello
Carlos "The Little Man" Marcello was a Sicilian-American mafioso who became the boss of the New Orleans crime family during the 1940s and held this position for the next 30 years.-Early life:...
, Santo Trafficante, Jr.
Santo Trafficante, Jr.
Santo Trafficante, Jr. was one of the last of the old-time Mafia bosses in the United States. He allegedly controlled organized criminal operations in Florida and Cuba, which had previously been consolidated from several rival gangs by his father, Santo Trafficante, Sr...
, and John Roselli
John Roselli
John "Handsome Johnny" Roselli , sometimes spelled John Rosselli, was an influential mobster for the Chicago Outfit who helped them control Hollywood and the Las Vegas Strip. Roselli was also involved with the Central Intelligence Agency plot to kill Cuban leader Fidel Castro in the early 1960s...
, Peter Lawford
Peter Lawford
Peter Sydney Ernest Aylen , better known as Peter Lawford, was an English-American actor.He was a member of the "Rat Pack", and brother-in-law to US President John F. Kennedy, perhaps more noted in later years for his off-screen activities as a celebrity than for his acting...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, and J. D. Tippit
J. D. Tippit
Tippit attended a Veterans Administration vocational training school at Bogata, Texas, from January 1950 until June 1952. He was then hired by the Dallas Police Department as a patrolman on July 28, 1952...
.
Film adaptation
In 2002, it was reported that Bruce WillisBruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
optioned the rights to produce and star in a TV miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
based on American Tabloid and The Cold Six-Thousand. Willis's option expired before he produced the series.
In 2008, Daily Variety reported that HBO, along with Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
's production company, Playtone
Playtone
The Playtone Company is an American film and television production company and record label established in 1996 by actor Tom Hanks and producer Gary Goetzman....
, were developing Tabloid and Six-Thousand (and, presumably after publication, Blood's a Rover
Blood's a Rover
Blood's a Rover is a 2009 crime fiction novel by American author James Ellroy. It follows American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand as the final volume of Ellroy's Underworld USA Trilogy. A 10,000-word excerpt was published in the December 2008 issue of Playboy...
) for either a mini-series or ongoing series. Screenwriter Kirk Ellis is drafting a screenplay for the potential series.
Editions
- 1995, USA, Alfred A Knopf (ISBN 0-679-40391-4), Pub date ? February 1995, hardback (First edition)
- 1995, UK, Century (ISBN 0-7126-4816-X), Pub date 5 January 1995, hardback
- 1995, UK, Arrow books (ISBN 0-09-989320-7), Pub date 7 September 1995, paperback
- 2001, USA, Vintage Books (ISBN 0-375-72737-X), Pub date ? May 2001, paperback
External links
- Podcast of James Ellroy talking about American Tabloid on the BBC's World Book ClubWorld Book ClubWorld Book Club is a radio programme on the BBC World Service. Each edition of the programme, which is broadcast on the first Saturday of the month with repeats into the following Monday, features a famous author discussing one of his or her books, often the most well-known one, with the public...