American Tabloid

5.0/5

Critic Rating

Please note: This content is for mature audiences only. It contains adult language and themes. Discretion is advised. In 1995, James Ellroy’s novel American Tabloid shocked the world with its gritty reimagining of the events leading up to the JFK assassination. Now, an all-star cast brings Ellroy’s masterwork to life in this gripping new audio adaptation. Hollywood luminaries including Brian Cox (Succession), Alessandro Nivola (The Many Saints of Newark), Elliott Gould (Ocean’s Eleven), Maya Hawke (Stranger Things), Bobby Cannavale (The Irishman), Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire), Giovani Ribisi (Lucky Pete) and Matt Dillon (There’s Something About Mary) lend their talents to this salacious thriller narrated by Ellroy himself. The high-low tale tracks the machinations of real power brokers, like Jimmy Hoffa, John F. and Bobby Kennedy, and J. Edgar Hoover, as well as the fictionalized footmen who did their dirty work behind the scenes. Weaving true events into his sordid story, Ellroy creates a portrait of midcentury America that’s as recognizable as it is shocking. Take a trip beyond the gloss of the Kennedy presidency into the backroom deals and unsavory characters that really made things happen. Follow along with characters like Big Pete Bondurant, a violent associate of both Howard Hughes and Jimmy Hoffa who will go to any lengths to insulate his employers from repercussions, and Kemper Boyd, an FBI agent tasked with going undercover in the Kennedy political operation. Ellroy invites a whole new generation to leave their historical preconceptions at the door—to lift up the rock and see what’s living underneath. ©2023 Audio Up, Inc. (P)2023 Audible Originals, LLC.


Critic Reviews

Score: 5

Maxim Staff • Maxim Nov 14, 2023

"It blasts a bullet hole into the myth of American innocence and hope that pervaded the Eisenhower years and was exemplified by Kennedy’s Camelot. ...inserted into this seamy milieu is a morphine-addicted Howard Hughes, J. Edgar Hoover, and assorted Chicago mobsters, who all converge in Dallas to rub up against history."

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