American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, Movie-Making, and the Crime of the Century

I really enjoyed this book. What I loved about it was the fact that it was so engaging and that it made me want to find out more about something I didn't think I had much interest in. I was particularly interested in Darrow. Burns, the detective, is pretty amazing too...but ALL the characters are presented in such a way that made me want to stay with this narrative. The author paints a very realistic picture of the way various social aggregates work interdependently on one another to drive the unfolding of human experience. His focus was L.A. and water, Labor and Corporations, film-making and Hollywood as well as male desire, ambition and human folly and the general national circumstances circa 1910 in America. I was nominally interested in this prior to reading the book - but Blum's craft for storytelling attracted me to want to learn more...I also think I want to read more by this author. Are all his works as good as this one? I think I'll get Gangland. In any case, I highly recommend this to anyone interested in any of the topics listed above, anyone who enjoys seeing exalted craftsmanship in storytelling and/or anyone who enjoys historical narrative.

American Lighting is a brilliant exposé on the highly disparate, and yet amazingly similar, lives of three men: a lawyer, a filmmaker, and a private detective, all of whom helped usher in the twentieth century with their groundbreaking work. Certainly, individual books on each of these men, Clarence Darrow, D. W. Griffith, and Billy Burns have been, and probably will continue to be, written as each was a pioneer in his own right; however, the manner in which their fascinating paths crossed as a result of the infamous bombing of the Los Angeles Times in 1910 has led Howard Blum to create this fascinating foray into the conflicts between labor and capitalists which ultimately shaped the future of our country for the next 100 years. American Lighting contains all the elements of a great historical novel - larger than life characters (Darrow, Griffith, and Burns) working together and against each other as well as being innovators in their respective fields amidst a backdrop of societal conflicts, often on the verge of meltdown, that fuel the passions of the wise and the foolish alike. Murders, bombings, the development of cinema as a form of communication that exceeds storytelling, politics, crime, and a seeming endless series of who-done-its fill this work with much to savor. While the tale woven by Mr. Bloom can become rather intense, he keeps a strong hold on the manner in which it is presented and successfully leaves the reader with a cogent whole. Bravo, Mr. Blum!

I absolutely enjoyed this book. The arrangement of scenes is very much like the old silents, including the films of D.W. Griffith-- short while advancing the plot, cutting between the characters. This technique doesn't suit all readers, but this vingette approach works for me in this novel. The research appears to be good, although personally I'd've liked to see the sources for the quotes, preferably as endnotes so the reader can choose to look at them or not, without interrupting the prose. A bibliography is included; I just like to see from which source a quote comes. The scope of the crimes here is vast and does not seem to have been well known either then or now, or has been lost due to the focus of the perpetrators on property damage (like some current domestic terrorists we could mention). Although the writer, and indeed the writings of the main characters are sympathetic to the cause of labor; the conclusion that violence to advance a cause is both wrong and counterproductive is refreshing. The bombings described in this book could have brought down organized labor, and indeed were the end of one union. To resort to terrorism means the argument has already been lost (IMO). While D.W. Griffith may seem a periphery character, he fits very well in the public relations campaigns conducted in the period. Indeed, the movie industry and "public relations" as we know the term today were both just beginning in the first decade of the 20th century, and were basically one and the same in many cases. He was a interesting choice, given how his most famous film (Birth of a Nation) is now dismissed as a piece of racist propaganda. During the period when it was released, it was viewed as progressive. The descriptions of the detective work, legal wranglings, extra-legal skullduggery, and even early film-making are great; the work moves along quickly and keeps the reader's interest. Even better, the work is based on real events with the participants' own words. I think the author's approach works here.

That American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century is a true story was the first surprise I had in reading this book. I'm old enough to remember (vaguely) the Symbionese Liberation Army and SDS and had no idea that there was, in the earliest years of the last century, a wave of terrorist bombings so severe that they threatened civil war. As horrendous as the events of 9/11 was, such terrorism has more extensive roots in this country than I knew (and I consider myself fairly well read.) American Lightening is the true story of the 1910 bombing of the Los Angeles Times by a group of desperate union members. The bombing was a response to the equally violent union-busting efforts by the anti-union "Merchant's & Manufacturers Association" know colloquially as the "M & M" lead by the Time's current owner, Harrison Gray Otis. Otis is only one of so many larger than life characters in this book that the reader may be forgiven in assuming that he's accidentally stepped into a science fiction alternative history, (such as Harry Turtldove's Guns of the South, which is also loaded with epic characters.) During the course of this book, you will be introduced to "America's Sherlock Holmes," Billy Burns; Defense Attorney Clarence Darrow; and even D.W. Griffith, who (almost unintentionally, it appears) creates the first use of motion pictures as a medium with a message and a social conscience. It's Griffith's film "Corner in Wheat" (see D.W. Griffith: Years Of Discovery: Episode 04 - Corner in Wheat (silent)) that motivates audiences instead of merely entertaining them. (At one point, Griffith's Biograph managers complain that he "can't make a movie without a chase! It's not a movie without a chase!") Many, many elements come together to tell the story of a relatively ignored part of American history: Burn's investigation of the first union backed terrorist attack in Peoria, Illinois; Otis' militant assaults on unions; The "direct action" (bombings) of the McNamara brothers; Griffith's stirring movies; And finally the (unsuccessful) defense of the McNamara's by Clarence Darrow (who knew they were guilty.) There are no pure heroes in this book - each believes in their own moral superiority and that "the ends justifies the means." Howard Blum's descriptive writing is in top form here. In describing the first terrorist bomb-blast: "Shards of metal showered down, spears falling like iron lightening bolts amid the hard, hammering rain." From anyone else, such language could read like over-the-top hyperbole, but Blum delivers them in a dry, "just the facts" way that allows you to draw the mental images without being distracted by the occasionally flowery prose. For all it's qualities, there are a few distractions. Most of the establishing chapters are short to the point of being just slightly longer than sound-bites. Some interesting possibilities are left unexplored (for example, the relations