January 15, 2007

Joseph Wambaugh's "Hollywood Station"

My new VDARE.com column:


Wambaugh’s Sharp Eye For PC, Immigration Trends
By Steve Sailer

One of the richest veins of American popular culture has been the Los Angeles crime novel. Perhaps its leading exponent since Raymond Chandler is a former Los Angeles Police Department detective sergeant named Joseph Wambaugh. In the early 1970s, Wambaugh began writing bestselling cop novels such as The New Centurions and The Choirboys and true crime tales such as The Onion Field. The 2Blowhards blog explains Wambaugh's cultural importance as:


"In writing-history terms, he took the Ed McBain-style police procedural and filled it to bursting with irreverence, heart and despair." ...


Accordingly, it's a noteworthy event when—at the suggestion of James Ellroy (LA Confidential), one of the many novelists influenced by him—Wambaugh returns to his classic LAPD stomping grounds for the first time in 23 years. In Hollywood Station, the old master has collected a new trove of war stories from 54 cops, making this 340-page novel about the mid-watch shift at the Hollywood police station in June 2006 a terrific read.

LA is the world's most absurd large city, and Hollywood is its funniest neighborhood. After each shift, the cops swap stories to determine who was called out on the evening's most memorable BHI (Bizarre Hollywood Incident). Example: being summoned to the famous courtyard of Grauman's Chinese Theatre, where street people garbed in movie legend costumes pose for tourists' cameras, by an ersatz Marilyn Monroe (6'-3" and with a five-o'clock shadow), who witnessed, in a dispute over tourist-hustling turf, Batman cold-cocking Spiderman. While they're at it, the cops also haul in on cocaine charges Tickle Me Elmo.

Wambaugh's cop-heroes aren't saints. When bored one night, two aging surfer dude officers drive down to an apartment building full of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang members to play "pit bull polo." The Salvadoran gang-bangers let their vicious dogs run wild, terrorizing all the children in the neighborhood. So the partners cruise slowly around the building a few times until the beasts are in a frenzy. Then they play a few chukkers of pit bull polo, leaning out the police car windows and swinging their batons like mallets.

Hollywood Station is mellower, less despairing than Wambaugh’s early masterpieces. As he reflects: "Doing good police work is the most fun these cops will ever have in their entire lives." And he's finally learned to appreciate the female half of the human race.

Still, Hollywood Station has a serious, even angry side. [More]


My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

child, Child Abuse,Child Support,Child Development, Child Labor,Child Care,Child Protective Services,Destinys Child,Child Molesters,
Child Psychology, Child Custody,Child Birth,Child Labor Laws,Child Abuse And Neglect,Child Stars,Bangbro Com
Your Child,Child Health Plus,Child Obesity,The Golden Child,Mothers Day Poem From Child,Mother And Child

Anonymous said...

Dating Dnline, Online Dating,Singles clubFree Online Dating,
dating with Yahoo! PersonalsDating Sites,free online dating siteDating Services,Alliance-Inter Dating ServicesDating Tips,tips and advice free dating Dating
Direct,Google PR Troubles
and the Lycos Dating ServiceYahoo Dating,Partner mit YahooDating Personals,Christian Dating,Hotmail Largest Online Dating WebsiteDating Websites,Dating Sims,Dating Sim is a type of computer gameOnline Sims Dating Games,msn gay chat roomsInternet Dating,Great Expectations Dating,Plentyoffish Dating,Gay Dating,Free gay personals Nz Dating,
Herpes Dating,Herpes Picture DatingMarried Dating,Free Dating Chat Sites,

Anonymous said...

herbalhealthportherbal nutrition and personal care productsHerbal Teayogi Tea offers the finest green tea organic herbal tea chai tea and black tea anywhereHerbal Tea And Pregnancyyogi Tea offers the finest green tea organic herbal tea chai tea and black tea anywhereOrganic Herbal Teayogi Tea offers the finest green tea organic herbal tea chai tea and black tea anywhereHerbal Tea Remedyyogi Tea offers the finest green tea organic herbal tea chai tea and black tea anywhereHerbal Tea Recipesyogi Tea offers the finest green tea organic herbal tea chai tea and black tea anywhere herbal laxative teayogi Tea offers the finest green tea organic herbal tea chai tea and black tea anywhereMatula Herbal Teayogi Tea offers the finest green tea organic herbal tea chai tea and black tea anywhereHerbal Supplementsinformation on nutritional supplements herbal supplements and health concernsHerbal Supplements For Weight Lossinformation on nutritional supplements herbal supplements and health concernsHerbal Supplements For Anxietyinformation on nutritional supplements herbal supplements and health concernsHerbal Diet Supplementsinformation on nutritional supplements herbal supplements and health concernsSell Herbal Supplements Worldwideinformation on nutritional supplements herbal supplements and health concernsNatural Herbal Supplementsinformation on nutritional supplements herbal supplements and health concernsVitamins And Herbal Supplementsinformation on nutritional supplements herbal supplements and health concernsHerbal ProductsAyurvedic Products Ayurvedic Diet Ayurvedic Medicine Herbal Supplements Massage OilsSkin CareAyurvedic Products Ayurvedic Diet Ayurvedic Medicine Herbal Supplements Massage Oils and skin careProducts HerbalOffers an insight into the Indian ayurvedic and herbal products industryProducts SupplementsOffers an insight into the Indian ayurvedic and herbal products industryAyurveda ProductOffers an insight into the Indian ayurvedic and herbal products industryOrganic Herbal ProductsOffers an insight into the Indian ayurvedic and herbal products industryBuy HerbalOffers an insight into the Indian ayurvedic and herbal products industryHerbal Beauty ProductsOffers an insight into the Indian ayurvedic and herbal products industryNutritional And HerbalOffers an insight into the Indian ayurvedic and herbal products industryHerbal Diet ProductsOffers an insight into the Indian ayurvedic and herbal products industryHerbal RemedyOffers an insight into the Indian ayurvedic and herbal products industryNatural HealthDegree programs in natural health naturopathy holistic lifestyle and nutritionNatural Health NewslettersDegree programs in natural health naturopathy holistic lifestyle and nutrition newslettersNatural Health ClinicDegree programs in natural health naturopathy holistic lifestyle and nutrition natural health clinicAlternative Natural HealthDegree programs in natural health naturopathy holistic lifestyle and nutritionHealth ProductsDegree programs in natural health naturopathy holistic lifestyle and nutritionNatural Health SchoolDegree programs in natural health naturopathy holistic lifestyle and nutrition nutural health schoolNatural Health InformationDegree programs in natural health naturopathy holistic lifestyle and nutrition nutural health informationNatural Health FoodDegree programs in natural health naturopathy holistic lifestyle and nutrition nutural health foodNatural Health DegreesDegree programs in natural health naturopathy holistic lifestyle and nutrition Health And BeautyDegree programs in natural health naturopathy holistic lifestyle and nutrition nutural health beautyHerbal FormulasThe herbal formulas and supplements found on Angels HerbsHerbal Formulas HerbsThe herbal formulas and supplements found on Angels HerbsHerbals Herbal FormulasThe herbal formulas and supplements found on Angels HerbsChinese HerbalSummary of the latest research concerning Chinese herbal medicineChinese MedicineSummary of the latest research concerning Chinese herbal medicineChinese HerbsSummary of the latest research concerning Chinese herbal medicineHerbal menopause formulasMenopause Support Herbal Complex clinically formulated for hot flashesherbal rotmulas for anxietyMenopause Support Herbal Complex clinically formulated for hot flashesHerbal LifeHerballife products allow people to improve their health and dietHerbal Life ProductsHerballife products allow people to improve their health and dietHerbal Life InternationalHerballife products allow people to improve their health and herbal life internationalHerbal Life DistributorsHerballife products allow people to improve their herbal life distributorsHerbal Life MalaysiaHerballife products allow people to improve their herbal life malaysiaHerbal Life ReviewsHerballife products allow people to improve their health and life reviewsHerbalife UKUK Home Business with Herbalife in the Wellness Health and Nutrition IndustryHerbal Life LossUK Home Business with Herbalife in the Wellness Health and Nutrition IndustryHerbal Life Corporationnnovative Life Sciences Corporation files six Product License Applications Life Supplementhe Faith and Religion in South Australia supplement to Multicultural LifeHerbal Life Work From HomeAchieve Your Dream lists work from home