Hard-Boiled Hollywood

"Jon Lewis’s range as a film scholar is vast. . . . He leaves us with the conviction that the movie business is even more complicated and dangerous than we ever suspected, but never without great plots."

— National Post

"On the way fantasy and reality interact in the films of the period, and on Hollywood’s essential darkness, this is a dense and compelling book."

— Times Higher Education

"The kind of book that could sit comfortably on the shelf between James Ellroy and Mike Davis. . . . A breezy read that doesn’t talk down to the consumer – film buffs may know a lot about the subject, but younger readers will benefit."

— On the Aisle

“Borrowing language from the hard-boiled writing of mid-century America, Lewis tells this history like a noir, with flashbacks and an elegantly labyrinthine structure that merges form and content. Written with verve, an eye for detail and a wit that positions it in the space between history and fiction, it is a significant addition to the catalogue of books that have puzzled over the meanings of Hollywood and Los Angeles. . . . A dazzling book.”

— Sight & Sound