''American Tabloid'' is a 1995 novel by

James Ellroy Lee Earle "James" Ellroy (born March 4, 1948) is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a telegrammatic prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, s ...

that chronicles the events surrounding three rogue American law enforcement officers from November 22, 1958, through November 22, 1963. Each becomes entangled in a web of interconnecting associations between the FBI, the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

, and the

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

, which eventually leads to their collective involvement in the

John F. Kennedy assassination John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...

. ''American Tabloid'' was ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' Best Book (Fiction) for 1995. It is the first novel in Ellroy's

Underworld USA Trilogy The Underworld USA Trilogy is the collective name given to three novels by American crime author James Ellroy: '' American Tabloid'' (1995), ''The Cold Six Thousand'' (2001), and ''Blood's a Rover'' (2009). Overview The trilogy blends fiction and ...

, followed by ''

The Cold Six Thousand ''The Cold Six Thousand'' is a 2001 crime fiction novel by James Ellroy. It is the first sequel to ''American Tabloid'' in the Underworld USA Trilogy and continues many of the earlier novel's characters and plotlines. Specifically, it follows three ...

'' and ''

Blood's a Rover ''Blood's a Rover'' is a 2009 crime fiction novel by American author James Ellroy. It follows ''American Tabloid'' and ''The Cold Six Thousand'' as the final volume of Ellroy's Underworld USA Trilogy. A 10,000-word excerpt was published in the De ...

''.

Structure

''American Tabloid'' is divided into five sections, each exactly one hundred chapters long (many are less than a page in length), and covers exactly five years. The narration eschews both exposition and lengthy dialog exchanges. All chapters begin with the chapter number, the location (usually the name of the city), and the date. The action of the book is completely sequential. The book is written in the limited third-person, alternating between the three main characters. "Document inserts" reproducing newspaper clippings, letters, and transcripts of telephone calls are interspersed between chapters. There are flashbacks, but they are restricted to the present-tense memory of the protagonists.

Plot summary

Part I, Shakedowns, November – December 1958

The novel centers around the three principal characters: Pete Bondurant, a former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy who presently works for billionaire

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in t ...

and runs small-time shakedowns; Kemper Boyd, an FBI agent who covets wealth and power; and Ward Littell, another FBI agent who is Boyd's friend and former partner. Although assigned to monitor communist activities, Littell's abiding hatred of

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

leads him to vie for a spot on the Bureau's Top Hoodlum Squad. The three men plot to entrap John F. Kennedy with a

call girl A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who (unlike a street walker) does not display her profession to the general public, nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency.< ...

; Boyd and Littell for

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation ...

, Bondurant for Hughes. The set-up is successful, but the

Kennedy family The Kennedy family is an American political family that has long been prominent in American politics, public service, entertainment, and business. In 1884, 35 years after the family's arrival from Ireland, Patrick Joseph "P. J." Kennedy beca ...

prevents the transcript of the encounter from being printed in Hughes' ''Hush-Hush''

tabloid Tabloid may refer to: * Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism * Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size ** Chinese tabloid * Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size * Sopwith Tabloid The Sopwith Tabloid an ...

. At Hoover's direction, Boyd leaves the FBI and begins working with Hoover's personal nemeses—Kennedy and his younger brother

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

—on the U.S. Senate Select Committee investigating mob involvement in labor unions. The Kennedys, with their wealth and privilege, embody everything that Boyd hopes to gain. Littell, who meets the Kennedys through Boyd, is enraptured by Robert, both men sharing a hatred for organized crime.

Part II, Collusion, January 1959 – January 1961

Following the

Cuban revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...

, Bondurant and Boyd both become

operatives while Littell investigates

Jimmy Hoffa James Riddle Hoffa (born February 14, 1913 – disappeared July 30, 1975; declared dead July 30, 1982) was an American labor union leader who served as the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) from 1957 until 1971. ...

's ties to the mob. Boyd also joins the employ of the Kennedy family, working on John's presidential campaign. Bondurant and Boyd ultimately collaborate with the CIA, the Mafia (seeking to retake its now-nationalized

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...

s in Havanna) and

far right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of bein ...

Cuban refugees plotting to overthrow

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 20 ...

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

regime. Littell becomes increasingly frustrated with Hoover's

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...

mandates and begins investigating the mob on his own. Through a series of snitches, Littell confirms that the Teamsters Union's pension fund is being used to finance organized crime. Littell tracks the fund's supposed "secret" accounting books to the home of mid-level mobster Jules Schiffrin in

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin Lake Geneva is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located in Walworth County and situated on Geneva Lake, it is home to an estimated 8,105 people as of 2019, up from 7,651 at the 2010 census. It is located about 40 miles southwest of Mil ...

, coercing

Jack Ruby Jack Leon Ruby (born Jacob Leon Rubenstein; April 25, 1911January 3, 1967) was an American nightclub owner and alleged associate of the Chicago Outfit who murdered Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963, two days after Oswald was accused of ...

into searching Schiffrin's home. While waiting for Ruby, Littell is severely beaten by Bondurant; Ruby had tipped off Bondurant to Littell's operation, and Bondurant feared that Littell would endanger the CIA's Cuban plots. After recuperating, Littell takes leave from the FBI, invades Schiffrin's home, and steals the fund's books himself. Cracking the books' code, he realizes that Joseph Kennedy loaned millions of dollars to the fund. Hoover fires Littell, revokes his pension, and blackballs him from every U.S. state's

bar association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to se ...

. Boyd tries to get Littell a job with now-

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

designate Robert Kennedy, who emphatically refuses, also having received a report from Hoover of Littell's budding

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...

and invented mob ties.

Part III, Pigs, February – November 1961

Boyd and Bondurant help train the "Blessington Cadre": Cuban exiles training to overthrow Castro at a CIA camp in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, recruited through Hoffa's "Tiger Kab" taxi stand in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. The mob, through

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

boss

Carlos Marcello Carlos Joseph Marcello (; born Calogero Minacore ; February 6, 1910 – March 3, 1993) was an Italian-American crime boss of the New Orleans crime family from 1947 until the late 1980s. Aside from his role in the American Mafia, he is also n ...

, funds the operation by supplying the Cadre

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and bro ...

for redistribution. Robert Kennedy has Marcello deported, unaware of (and uninterested in) his involvement in the CIA operation. Bondurant covertly absconds with Marcello when his

INS INS or Ins or ''variant'', may refer to: Places * Ins, Switzerland, a municipality * Creech Air Force Base (IATA airport code INS) * Indonesia, ITF and UNDP code INS Biology *'' Ins'', a New World genus of bee flies * INS, the gene for the insulin ...

plane lands in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. Littell, hired as Marcello's immigration lawyer at Boyd's recommendation, meets Bondurant and Marcello at their hideout and hands over the stolen Teamsters books. President Kennedy, unaware of Boyd's CIA connection, taps Boydnow also working for the civil rights task force in Robert F. Kennedy's

Justice Department A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

to investigate the Blessington operation and advise whether to implement the CIA's invasion strategy. After a sham visit, Boyd naturally encourages the president to authorize the mission, promising Kennedy that it will guarantee his re-election. The

Bay of Pigs Invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called ''Invasión de Playa Girón'' or ''Batalla de Playa Girón'' after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly fin ...

is authorized, although Kennedy second-guesses its wisdom and refuses to provide the air support that the Cadre believes necessary. The invasion fails and proves an embarrassment for Kennedy and all involved—including the CIA, the mob, Bondurant, and Boyd. The night of the invasion, Boyd is shot numerous times in a side operation to distribute "hot shots" of heroin that would be linked back to Castro.

Part IV, Heroin, December 1961 – September 1963

Through the patronage of Marcello, Littell becomes a full-fledged mob lawyer and is hired by Hoffa. Through their now-mutual hatred of the Kennedys, Littell and Hoover make amends, and Hoover arranges for Hughes to become Littell's client. In the wake of the Bay of Pigs fiasco, Boyd and Bondurant encourage the mob to authorize an assassination attempt on Castro. When the mob passes on the opportunity, they surmise that the mob is now backing Castro. Enraged, they execute a plan wherein they steal millions of dollars in heroin as it comes to shore from Cuba in the hopes of recouping their losses from the failed invasion. In collusion with Littell, Bondurant begins running a

wiretap Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...

hoping to catch President Kennedy having an affair with a woman they have set up. Boyd, however, remains fond of the president and becomes enraged when he discovers the scam. When he confronts Bondurant, he is played sections from the tapes in which Kennedy ridicules Boyd's social-climbing and envy. Robert Kennedy, learning of Boyd's CIA connection and erratic behavior upon discovering the wiretap, fingers Boyd as the person trying to set up the president; he fires Boyd from the Justice Department, severing his ties with the Kennedys. Upon figuring out that Boyd and Bondurant were behind the theft of their heroin, Littell relays the mob's price to atone for the theft: killing President Kennedy.

Part V, Contract, September – November 1963

Boyd, Bondurant and Littell plot to assassinate Kennedy during a motorcade in Miami and arrange the logistics to frame right-wing radicals. Without being specific, Littell tips off Hoover about the plot, but due to Hoover's non-committal response he surmises that there is a second assassination plot which will take place several days later in

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. The three men determine that they were set up and begin to cover their tracks in Miami. Littell confronts Robert Kennedy with evidence of his father's collusion with the mob, with the added intent that it will serve as an after-the-fact explanation of why the president would be killed. After killing several of the Miami conspirators, Bondurant leaves for Dallas while Boyd returns to

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. Littell is waiting for Boyd at his hotel; Littell shoots Boyd, who dies thinking of President Kennedy. Bondurant, his new wife Barb Jahelka, and several mob associates, converge on Dallas on November 22, 1963. The book ends at 12:30 PM, as Kennedy's motorcade drives through

Dealey Plaza Dealey Plaza is a city park in the West End Historic District of downtown Dallas, Texas. It is sometimes called the "birthplace of Dallas". It was also the location of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963; 30 minutes after the shootin ...

, with Bondurant closing his eyes, awaiting the shots and screams.

Main characters

Pete Bondurant is a French-Canadian, ex-law enforcement,

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

insider, organized-crime associate, and bodyguard for

. He bears superficial resemblances to historical figures

Fred Otash Fred Otash (January 6, 1922 – October 5, 1992) was a Los Angeles police officer, private investigator, author, and a WWII Marine veteran, who became known as a Hollywood fixer, while operating as its "most infamous" private detective; he is mos ...

, (so-called "private-eye to the stars") and Robert Maheu, (who worked for both Hughes and

during the time frame depicted in the book). Bondurant first appears as a secondary character in ''

White Jazz ''White Jazz'' is a 1992 crime fiction novel by James Ellroy. It is the fourth in his L.A. Quartet, preceded by '' The Black Dahlia'', '' The Big Nowhere'', and '' L.A. Confidential''. James Ellroy dedicated ''White Jazz'' "TO ''Helen Knode''." ...

'' with only superficial similarities to his character in ''American Tabloid''. The time-frame overlap between the two books leads to some inconsistencies, including the deteriorating mental state of Howard Hughes. Kemper Boyd is an FBI agent who, in 1958, is recruited by

to infiltrate the Kennedy organization. This assignment leads to CIA contacts, as well as employment to influence the future President Kennedy to take an anti-Castro stance in his Cuban policy. It also puts him in the position to organize the collaboration between Cosa Nostra and the CIA in the Cuban cause. He falls in love with Laura Hughes, the secret daughter of

Gloria Swanson Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most f ...

and

Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. Joseph Patrick Kennedy (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the patriarch of the Irish-American Ken ...

, half sister of the Kennedy brothers. Boyd also bears a resemblance to Robert Maheu, a close friend of the Kennedy brothers and former FBI agent who admitted to involvement in a conspiracy to kill Fidel Castro and has been linked to the JFK assassination. Ward Littell is an FBI agent clandestinely investigating organized crime activity in defiance of his employer. He is dismissed from the FBI but secures employment as a "Mob" Lawyer and wins his way back into Hoover's good graces.

Secondary characters

Secondary characters, which consist of fictional characters as well as historical figures, include: *

: Director of the FBI. He has a personal vendetta against the Kennedys. * John F. Kennedy: Massachusetts senator, presidential candidate, and President of the United States. Kennedy begins the novel as a member of the McClellan Committee, which is charged with investigating organized crime. * Robert F. Kennedy: Special counsel to the McClellan Committee, named U.S. Attorney General by his brother. * Joseph P. Kennedy: Father of the Kennedy brothers. After making his fortune as a bootlegger during

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...

, he has loaned millions of dollars to the mafia through the

Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the ...

Pension Fund. *

: President of the Teamsters union, Hoffa maintains close connections to organized crime, lending the mafia millions of dollars through the Teamsters Pension Fund. *

: Reclusive, eccentric and mentally disturbed, Hughes plans to take over the mafia's

s in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

to establish a "germ-free environment" for his residence. *

Guy Banister William Guy Banister (March 7, 1901 – June 6, 1964) was an employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an Assistant Superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, and a private investigator. After his death, New Orleans District ...

: Ex-FBI agent and current CIA liaison, Banister helps establish a militia of anti-communist Cuban refugees, the "Blessington Cadre". *John Stanton: Banister's associate, also with the CIA. *Lenny Sands: A

nightclub singer A nightclub act is a production, usually of nightclub music or comedy, designed for performance at a nightclub, a type of drinking establishment, by a nightclub performer such as a nightclub singer or nightclub dancer, whose performance may ...

with mob ties, Littell conscripts Sands as a snitch. *

: Dallas nightclub owner with ties to organized crime. *Jules Schiffrin: A Chicago mob elder statesman who keeps the real books of the Teamsters Pension Fund. * Chuck Rogers: Ex-CIA agent and pilot who enters the service of the Blessington Cadre. *Laura Hughes: Illegitimate daughter of Joe Kennedy and Gloria Swanson who has taken Howard Hughes's last name just to spite her father. *Helen Agee: College friend of Littell's daughter who becomes romantically involved with Littell. *Barb Jahelka: Los Angeles singer and shakedown artist. *Nestor Chasco: A virulent anti-Castro member of the Blessington Cadre. Other members of the historical cast include mob bosses

Sam Giancana Salvatore Mooney Giancana (; born Gilormo Giangana; ; May 24, 1908 – June 19, 1975) was an American mobster who was boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957 to 1966. Giancana was born in Chicago to Italian immigrant parents. He joined the 4 ...

, Santo Trafficante, Jr., and

John Roselli John "Handsome Johnny" Roselli (born Filippo Sacco; July 4, 1905 – August 7, 1976), sometimes spelled Rosselli, was an influential mobster for the Chicago Outfit who helped that organization control Hollywood and the Las Vegas Strip. In the ear ...

. Others include

Peter Lawford Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford ( Aylen; 7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984) was an English-American actor.Obituary '' Variety'', 26 December 1984. He was a member of the " Rat Pack" and the brother-in-law of US president John F. Kennedy and se ...

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

, and J. D. Tippit.

Film adaptation

In 2002, it was reported that

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...

optioned the rights to produce and star in a TV

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format ...

based on ''American Tabloid'' and ''The Cold Six Thousand''. Willis's option expired before he produced the series. In 2008, ''

Daily Variety ''Variety'' is an American media company owned by Penske Media Corporation. The company was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933 it added ''Daily Variety'', based ...

'' reported that HBO, along with

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

's production company,

Playtone Playtone (stylized on-screen as PLAY•TONE; a.k.a. The Playtone Company) is an American film and television production company established in 1998 by actor Tom Hanks and producer Gary Goetzman. It was named after the fictional record compan ...

, were developing ''American Tabloid'' and ''The Cold Six Thousand'' for either a mini-series or ongoing series. Screenwriter Kirk Ellis was drafting a screenplay for the potential series.

Editions

*1995, US, Alfred A Knopf (), Pub date ? February 1995, hardcover (first edition) *1995, UK, Century (), Pub date 5 January 1995, hardcover *1995, UK, Arrow books (), Pub date 7 September 1995, paperback *2001, US, Vintage Books (), Pub date ? May 2001, paperback

Critical reception

On November 5, 2019, the

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...

listed ''American Tabloid'' on its list of the 100 most influential novels.

References

External links

Podcast of James Ellroy talking about ''American Tabloid''
on the BBC's ''

World Book Club ''World Book Club'' is a radio programme on the BBC World Service. Each edition of the programme, which is broadcast on the first Saturday of the month with repeats into the following Monday, features a famous author discussing one of his or her ...

'' {{James Ellroy 1995 novels Underworld USA Trilogy Novels about the assassination of John F. Kennedy Books with cover art by Chip Kidd Cultural depictions of John F. Kennedy Cultural depictions of Robert F. Kennedy Cultural depictions of J. Edgar Hoover Cultural depictions of Howard Hughes Cultural depictions of Jack Ruby Cultural depictions of Jimmy Hoffa Cultural depictions of Sam Giancana Postmodern novels Works about the American Mafia