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''The Choirboys'' (ISBN 0440111889), is a controversial 1975 work of fiction written by Los Angeles Police Department officer-turned-novelist Joseph Wambaugh . ''The Choirboys'' is a tragicomic look at police life through the exploits of a group of Los Angeles police officers in the Rampart Division of the Los Angeles Police Department . A clique of ten officers conducts end-of-shift events they euphemistically call "choir practices" (ostensibly to hide their true nature from superiors,) in MacArthur Park . These "choir practices" almost always involve heavy drinking, complaints about their superior officers, stories about suspects -- and, occasionally, group sex with a pair of lusty, overweight barmaids. Each of the officers are disillusioned, to varying degrees, that the suspects they arrest are not unlike many of the people they're paid to protect. The final choir practice ends with the accidental shooting death of a young, gay transient by one of the officers. The shooting is referred to throughout the course of the novel. Due to the success of the book, the Slang Term "choir practice" became, a somewhat popular euphemism for off-duty recreational activities even if it does not involve alcohol. ''The Choirboys'' is considered an indictment of police hierarchy in several ways: 1) the choirboys' dislike and distrust of command-level officers; 2) the way the investigation into the shooting was handled; and 3) many of their superiors' apathetic attitudes about the pressures officers have to deal with. THE CHOIRBOYS Unit 7-A-1: Spermwhale Whalen and Baxter Slate Herbert "Spermwhale" Whalen is the oldest and — legitimately — the toughest of the choirboys. However, unlike Roscoe Rules, he isn't a bully. A nearly twenty-year veteran, Whalen considers anyone with less tenure a rookie. Whalen was a transport pilot in World War II , the Korean War , and even the Vietnam War as a reservist. He carries a mugshot of his dead son because it's the last photo taken of him before he died. He's been married three times and says he respects the second one the most because she had the most fortitude to take him for nearly everything he owned. Baxter Slate is a university-educated cynic with a degree in classical literature (which he considers worthless), can tell dirty jokes in Latin , and takes some delight in confounding Roscoe Rules with his advanced vocabulary. Outwardly, Slate appears to be one the most stable of the officers, but he is driven to suicide because of his shame in inadvertently being caught by Sam Niles in a humiliating encounter with a Dominatrix . Unit 7-A-29: Sam Niles and Harold Bloomguard Sam Niles and '''Harold Bloomguard''' are ex- Marines who were trapped in a Viet Cong Spider Hole during their tour of duty in Vietnam. Niles is clearly the dominate of the two; Bloomguard is something of a physical and emotional weakling who attached himself to Niles and dotes on his friend. While Sam Niles was readily accepted at the police academy, Harold Bloomguard barely passed their height requirement. Due to his Vietnam experience, Niles developed severe Claustrophobia , which contributed to the shooting of the transient. Unit 7-A-33: Spencer Van Moot and Willie Wright Spencer Van Moot is the second-oldest of the Choirboys and their "great provider", taking the fullest advantage of free meals, cigarettes, and other perks offered to uniformed officers by businesses within the division's jurisdiction. He is also a connoisseur of food and fashion and drives a Ferrari he can barely afford and spends much of the time at choir practices complaining about his failing marriage. "Father" Willie Wright is a young officer and a devout Jehovah's Witness who, like his partner, is in a bad marriage, but in Wright's case, he's got a domineering wife with whom he sells ''Watchtower'' magazines door-to-door on days off. Wright joined the group out of loneliness and frustration. His guilt-driven, drunken litanies over the evils of drink and marital infidelity — despite the fact that he frequently engaged in both — earned him the moniker "Father" Willie Wright. Unit 7-A-77: Calvin Potts and Francis Tanaguchi Calvin Potts is a recently divorced Black officer and an Alcoholic . His ex-wife's father is one of Los Angeles' top black attorneys. Francis Tanaguchi is a Japanese-American officer who was raised in the Barrios of Los Angeles, and believes, at heart, that he's more Hispanic than Asian and goes to great lengths to de-emphasize his Japanese ancestry. He is also a prankster. Potts and Tanaguchi are informally referred to as "The Gook and The Spook." Unit 7-A-85: Roscoe Rules and Dean Pratt Henry "Roscoe" Rules is a bully and a braggart who was nicknamed "Roscoe" during a choir practice when he referred to his police-issue .38 special as a "roscoe" after hearing the term on a late night television movie. Of all the officers, he is the one most intent on proving he is the toughest cop on the force and frequently refers to people he dislikes (which is just about everyone) as "scrotes." He hates the city and lives quite a distance away in a rural part of Chino . One of his fellow officers exaggerated that "Roscoe Rules handed out towels in the showers at Auschwitz " to illustrate the depths of Rules' meanness. Dean "Whaddayamean Dean" Pratt is a young officer who simply cannot tolerate even moderate amounts of alcohol. When inebriated, Pratt is incapable of holding even the simplest of conversations. Questions are usually met with mindless drivel, most often "whaddayamean"? ON FILM In 1977, ''The Choirboys'' was adapted into a film starring Charles Durning , Perry King , James Woods , Louis Gossett, Jr. , and Randy Quaid . Ultimately the film was unsuccessful and critically panned. Wambaugh himself refused to have his name associated with the picture as he considered it to be an extremely poor interpretation of his novel. For this reason, he is uncredited. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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