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A review by kaylor_guitar
Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William J. Mann
4.0
This was definitely an interesting book. The premise of it, a murder at the dawn of Hollywood that has gone unsolved for almost a century, was what drew me in initially. But it was the exquisite, story-like, telling and all the surrounding cast that held me enthralled.
The book revolves around the still unofficially unsolved murder of William Desmond Taylor, a prominent movie director in the early days of Hollywood (the 1920s) and the potential suspects. But beyond that the author William J. Mann does a wonderful job rounding out almost all of the people involved (the exception in my opinion being the victim himself). The three "desperate dames". The "megalomaniac" CEO. The "locusts". The investigators. All of them have been carefully researched and portrayed as they really were, flaws and all.
And beyond the whodunit, there is a whole other story playing out in between the pages of this book. It's the story of Hollywood. Of power, corruption, and greed. But also of honest people trying to make an honest living, yet having their names drawn through the mud by so-called journalists. It's the story of censorship vs. the first amendment. Of public democracy vs. political and religious groups. And how the story plays out is just as gripping as the whodunit.
The book revolves around the still unofficially unsolved murder of William Desmond Taylor, a prominent movie director in the early days of Hollywood (the 1920s) and the potential suspects. But beyond that the author William J. Mann does a wonderful job rounding out almost all of the people involved (the exception in my opinion being the victim himself). The three "desperate dames". The "megalomaniac" CEO. The "locusts". The investigators. All of them have been carefully researched and portrayed as they really were, flaws and all.
And beyond the whodunit, there is a whole other story playing out in between the pages of this book. It's the story of Hollywood. Of power, corruption, and greed. But also of honest people trying to make an honest living, yet having their names drawn through the mud by so-called journalists. It's the story of censorship vs. the first amendment. Of public democracy vs. political and religious groups. And how the story plays out is just as gripping as the whodunit.