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L.A. Noir

L.A. Noir

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Written by John BuntinAuthor Alerts: Random House will alert you to new works by John Buntin

  • Format: Trade Paperback, 432 pages
    •  
  • Publisher: Broadway
  • On Sale: April 6, 2010
  • Price: $16.00
  • ISBN: 978-0-307-35208-8 (0-307-35208-0)
Also available as an eBook.
about this book

L.A. Noir tells the history of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s in America's dream city, beginning when the end of Prohibition left organized crime looking for a new way to exert influence and make a living. The Mob had to contend with downtown businesses, City Hall, and, above all, the LAPD. This gripping story focuses on the rivalry between Los Angeles's most notorious gangster, former featherweight boxer-turned-mob boss Mickey Cohen, and the policeman who created the modern LAPD, Chief William H. Parker. For more than two decades, Cohen and Parker were engaged in a struggle for control of the city of Los Angeles. Its outcome shaped the modern American policing, sparked the Watts riots, and had a profound impact on the history of Los Angeles.

"In this breathtaking dual biography of mobster Mickey Cohen and police chief William Parker, John Buntin confronts America's most enigmatic city. For a half century and more, the chiaroscuro of Los Angeles, its interplay of sunshine and shadow, has inspired novelists and filmmakers alike to explore what Buntin has now explored in a tour de force of non-fiction narrative." --Kevin Starr, University Professor and Professor of History, USC