{"product_id":"tinseltown-murder-morphine-and-madness-at-the-dawn-of-hollywood-9780062242198","title":"Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e Bestseller - Edgar Award winner for Best Fact Crime\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Day of the Locust\u003c\/em\u003e meets \u003cem\u003eThe Devil in the White City\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eMidnight in the Garden of Good and Evil\u003c\/em\u003e in this juicy, untold Hollywood story: an addictive true tale of ambition, scandal, intrigue, murder, and the creation of the modern film industry.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy 1920, the movies had suddenly become America's new favorite pastime, and one of the nation's largest industries. Never before had a medium possessed such power to influence. Yet Hollywood's glittering ascendency was threatened by a string of headline-grabbing tragedies--including the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a legendary crime that has remained unsolved until now.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a fiendishly involving narrative, bestselling Hollywood chronicler William J. Mann draws on a rich host of sources, including recently released FBI files, to unpack the story of the enigmatic Taylor and the diverse cast that surrounded him--including three beautiful, ambitious actresses; a grasping stage mother; a devoted valet; and a gang of two-bit thugs, any of whom might have fired the fatal bullet. And overseeing this entire landscape of intrigue was Adolph Zukor, the brilliant and ruthless founder of Paramount, locked in a struggle for control of the industry and desperate to conceal the truth about the crime. Along the way, Mann brings to life Los Angeles in the Roaring Twenties: a sparkling yet schizophrenic town filled with party girls, drug dealers, religious zealots, newly-minted legends and starlets already past their prime--a dangerous place where the powerful could still run afoul of the desperate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA true story recreated with the suspense of a novel, \u003cem\u003eTinseltown\u003c\/em\u003e is the work of a storyteller at the peak of his powers--and the solution to a crime that has stumped detectives and historians for nearly a century.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMann, William J.:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eWilliam J. Mann is the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eKate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn\u003c\/em\u003e; \u003cem\u003eHow to Be a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood\u003c\/em\u003e; \u003cem\u003eHello, Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand\u003c\/em\u003e; and \u003cem\u003eWisecracker: The Life and Times of William Haines\u003c\/em\u003e, winner of the Lambda Literary Award. He divides his time between Connecticut and Cape Cod.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Paperbacks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50719057543442,"sku":"9780062242198","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_3a7e9adf-d9c9-461c-a65b-5278104e9771.jpg?v=1734656933","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/tinseltown-murder-morphine-and-madness-at-the-dawn-of-hollywood-9780062242198","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}