3.5
Widespread Panic
ByPublisher Description
From the modern master of noir comes a novel based on the real-life Hollywood fixer Freddy Otash, the malevolent monarch of the 1950s L.A. underground, and his Tinseltown tabloid Confidential magazine.
Freddy Otash was the man in the know and the man to know in ‘50s L.A. He was a rogue cop, a sleazoid private eye, a shakedown artist, a pimp—and, most notably, the head strong-arm goon for Confidential magazine.
Confidential presaged the idiot internet—and delivered the dirt, the dish, the insidious ink, and the scurrilous skank. It mauled misanthropic movie stars, sex-soiled socialites, and putzo politicians. Mattress Jack Kennedy, James Dean, Montgomery Clift, Burt Lancaster, Liz Taylor, Rock Hudson—Frantic Freddy outed them all. He was the Tattle Tyrant who held Hollywood hostage, and now he’s here to CONFESS.
“I’m consumed with candor and wracked with recollection. I’m revitalized and resurgent. My meshugenah march down memory lane begins NOW.”
In Freddy’s viciously entertaining voice, Widespread Panic torches 1950s Hollywood to the ground. It’s a blazing revelation of coruscating corruption, pervasive paranoia, and of sin and redemption with nothing in between.
Here is James Ellroy in savage quintessence. Freddy Otash confesses—and you are here to read and succumb.
Freddy Otash was the man in the know and the man to know in ‘50s L.A. He was a rogue cop, a sleazoid private eye, a shakedown artist, a pimp—and, most notably, the head strong-arm goon for Confidential magazine.
Confidential presaged the idiot internet—and delivered the dirt, the dish, the insidious ink, and the scurrilous skank. It mauled misanthropic movie stars, sex-soiled socialites, and putzo politicians. Mattress Jack Kennedy, James Dean, Montgomery Clift, Burt Lancaster, Liz Taylor, Rock Hudson—Frantic Freddy outed them all. He was the Tattle Tyrant who held Hollywood hostage, and now he’s here to CONFESS.
“I’m consumed with candor and wracked with recollection. I’m revitalized and resurgent. My meshugenah march down memory lane begins NOW.”
In Freddy’s viciously entertaining voice, Widespread Panic torches 1950s Hollywood to the ground. It’s a blazing revelation of coruscating corruption, pervasive paranoia, and of sin and redemption with nothing in between.
Here is James Ellroy in savage quintessence. Freddy Otash confesses—and you are here to read and succumb.
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3.5

Braddarb
Created 5 months agoShare
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Tim Karstens
Created 6 months agoShare
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Wil Carpenter
Created 12 months agoShare
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“I have no idea how I missed this book. James Ellroy is my favourite author and somehow, in the muddle of post-pandemic life and the birth of my first child, I didn't realise he released a book in 2021. Or that it was the start of a new series (which seems to have been retroactively folded into his as-yet-unfinished second LA Quartet - which is now a Quintet...I know, it's a lot!)
Ellroy writes how I wish I could; fast-paced and punchy prose featuring doses of alliteration wrapped around deeply immersive and intricate plots, peppered with stylish dialogue that packs the twang of dialects and period-accurate slang. The worlds he creates, primarily set within Los Angeles in the '40s and '50s are meticulous and powerful.
This time around, Ellroy moves away from police and political narratives to give us the story of real world figure Freddy Otash. Freddy is a former cop turned investigator for tabloid rag Confidential which prints sordid celebrity stories in the style of a modern day TMZ. Otash is a smart man, a dangerous man, a violent man; and it is through his eyes and words that we are relayed this story.
Covering a few years in Freddy's life, at the height of Confidential's notoriety, Ellroy's novel pushes the controversy to the limit with disturbing details and accusations launched at long-dead Hollywood figures. Ellroy is never one to shy away from this sort of approach; he is notorious for being a product of the time he writes about and that is, in many ways, how he manages to do it so well.
Freddy is an awful human being, but there are instances where we come to feel sorry for him. For a while, at least. Before he does something else that makes our skin crawl. He fits in perfectly with the multiple awful human beings at the centre of Ellroy's canon.
I have no idea how I missed this book. But I am so happy that I've had the chance to read it and that the next instalment, "The Enchanters," focusing on Freddy during the aftermath of Marilyn Monroe's death is already on my shelf ready to be devoured.”

Swwarden
Created 12 months agoShare
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Brent
Created 12 months agoShare
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“3.25/5
All James Ellroy books are highly stylized to some degree with his signature prose style that mixes period slang, short staccato sentences, and fast talking dialogue. This book is the most stylized of any I have read with all of that turned up to 11 with the main pov narrating the story also constantly speaking in completely copious amount of absurd alliteration. See what I did there? Now imagine reading a whole book like that. It was entertaining at first and I like weird styles sometimes but it got a bit tired and made things hard to follow by the end. Regardless, I still love the way that Ellroy uses real historical figures in his works as characters. I also love the way he captures the essence of the time and place with his writing. One other thing of note is if you aren't a boomer, didn't grow up with boomer parents, or haven't studied mid 20th century American history or culture a lot if not all of this book may go over your head.
This was an entertaining read, but far from the best I've read from this author. If you want a book with this kind of vibe but better characters and plot I'd suggest Ellroy's Underworld USA trilogy starting with American Tabloid.”
About James Ellroy
JAMES ELLROY was born in Los Angeles in 1948. He is the author of the Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy: American Tabloid, The Cold Six Thousand, and Blood's A Rover, and the L.A. Quartet novels: The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz. He lives in Colorado.
Other books by James Ellroy
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