A bright and guilty place
Subtitle: murder, corruption, and L.A.'s scandalous coming of age
By: by Richard Rayner.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Doubleday
Published: 2009
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 267
ISBN-13: 9780385509701
Copyright date: 2009
Subjects: Organized crime -- California -- Los Angeles -- History; Murder -- California -- Los Angeles -- History; Political corruption -- California -- Los Angeles -- History
Description: 1920s Los Angeles was the fastest growing city in the world, mad with oil fever, get-rich-quick schemes, celebrity scandals, and religious fervor. It was also rife with organized crime, with a mayor and a DA in the pocket of the syndicates. Here, historian Richard Rayner narrates the entwined lives of two men, Dave Clark and Leslie White, who were caught up in the crimes, murders, and swindles of the day. Over a few transformative years, as the boom times shaded into the Depression, the adventures of Clark and White would inspire pulp fiction and replace L.A.'s reckless optimism with a new cynicism. Together, theirs is the tale of how the city of sunshine got noir. Key events include the theft of water from the Owens River Valley that let L.A grow, the Teapot Dome scandal, and the emergence of crime writers like Raymond Chandler who helped mythologize L.A.--From publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Cast of characters; title: The mystery is announced; title: Dam disaster; title: A hero named Clark; title: Angel city; title: The gangster goes down; title: Oil, law, and scandal; title: Our detective learns the ropes; title: Shots in the night; title: Beverly Hills C.S.I.; title: Cover-up; title: Good time Charlie; title: Systems under siege; title: Reach for a typewriter; title: Raymond Chandler : oil man!; title: Entrapment of a news hound; title: Running with the foxes; title: Zig-zags of graft; title: Red hot Bow; title: The gutting of Clara; title: Hard times in Lotus-land; title: Double death on Sunset; title: The ballad of Dave Clark; title: They can hang you; title: Telling it all; title: Verdicts; title: A hooker's tale; title: Music of the city; title: Black mask merry-go-round; title: Sad song; title: Lives go on; title: A personal note