I'd forgotten most of what transpired in The Black Dahlia so it was like being tied up and dragged down a gravel road all over again. When it went on sale on the Kindle for $1.99 (and Kemper also started reading it), I figured it was time for a reread.Īs I've said many times before, the magic of getting older is that old books become completely new books. The Black Dahlia was a game changer for me, a powerful book that made me see detective fiction in a different light. It took me a week to get through but it felt like spending a month in jail. At the time, the only detective books I'd read were The Maltese Falcon and a few Hard Case books. Some time around 2005, my local bookstore owner pushed this on me. Can Bleichert and Blanchard bring in her killer before the case destroys them both? I totally read it in my head with a Mickey Spillane voice too.Įlizabeth Short is found murdered and LAPD detectives Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard catch the case. Bless that poor girl's soul.ĭirty cops, women seen as skirts, corruption and sometimes just pure stupidity threads throughout this book. It's based loosely on a true story but in real life the Black Dahlia case is still open. Then a few minutes later I would pick it up and begin reading it again. I kept putting this book down saying that I was going to dnf the bastard. tries to keep some of it out of the press because the public won't care about women they see as hooers. Betty/Elizabeth Short's story will become ingrained into your memory after that point. They team together after the fight as partner's. The hotshot team that got the LA police dept a raise with their boxing match.

It starts with the boxing fight of two young police officers Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard. Include an introduction to the text and discussion questions or prompts when you make the discussion thread.My friend Hulk-boy told me to read this author. Please pick books related to Red Scare in some way. DM /u/rarely_beagle with the book and preferred date(s) of discussion, or go ahead and make a thread stating interest.

Theory mentioned on RS: Paglia, Sontag, Lasch, Quinton Crisp, Fisher, Janet Malcolm, Byung-Chul Han, Jung, FreudĪnna's Reading List from Twitter, Anna on Goodreads, Red Scare Reading List on GoodreadsĪ. We also cover the classics.įiction mentioned on RS: Houellebecq, Moravia, Bernhard, Jelinek, Bulgakov, Didion, Sally Rooney, Bret Easton Ellis, Ottessa Moshfegh We also listen to trends in the 'currently reading' threads. May, dates TBD: Mark Fisher and Susan Sontag essaysĪ. Sunday, May 7th: The Bible: Acts Text (KJV), audio (KJV) Sunday, April 30th: The Bible: John Text (KJV), audio (KJV) Sunday, April 23rd: The Bible: Luke Text (KJV), audio (KJV)

L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy