Review: A MashUp
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 09 9, 2012
Author Jeffry Stone has really written two completely different books, all under one title. First, he has written what essentially could be submitted as a Wikipedia article or college paper on prohibition and rumrunning in Los Angeles in the pre-Depression years and the advent of sound in the movies. It was kind of fun, since I lived only a few blocks from where most of the studio section took place.Second, he has written a novel about the death of a con man and the revenge eventually brought down upon the head of the perpetrator by his best friend and assorted companions. Quite a good story, actually.The difference between the two writings is quite stark. The scholarly article has no spelling errors, no errors in punctuation, and is quite stiff and formal, as you would expect.The novel is full of slang and violent episodes and a convoluted plot, with its full share of punctuation and grammatical errors, (which could be easily found by a competent editor and not seriously detracting from the action story).The final outcome is that the book is disjointed and very odd--almost as if there had been two authors at work, one academic and the other a crime novelist. I really had trouble getting all the way through it, past pages of exposition and historical detail and unnecessary background (do I really care how the boxman came to be working in Los Angeles with a bad knee? No.)Lots of potential. Needs work.