The Choirboys

By: Joseph Wambaugh

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Partners in the Los Angeles Police Department, they’re haunted by terrifying dark secrets of the nightwatch - shared predawn drink and sex sessions they call choir practice. Each wears his cynicism like a bulletproof jockstrap - each has his horror story, his bad dream, his night shriek. He is afraid of his friends–he is afraid of himself.

©1975 Joseph Wambaugh (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Stark...orgiastic...brilliant. Wambaugh's finest book." ( Los Angeles Times)

• Top 100 Mysteries of All Time (Mystery Writers of America)

100 Must-Read Thrillers (International Thriller Writers)

Wambaugh's Best

wambaugh's best fiction book about a watch of dysfunctional Patrol officers comes to life thanks to Oliver Wyman's great narration and character work. I must listen for fans of wambaugh.

You'll love this book.

you'll love this book. Although The New Centuriens is Wamaughs best, in my opinion, this is a close second. It keeps. you riveted to the edge of your seat.

Excellent Novel and Narrator, Missing Prologue

One of the best audiobooks I've heard. Unfortunately, they seem to have accidentally failed to include the two-page prologue. It takes place during the Vietnam War - two unnamed Marines, one tall and one short, are hiding in a cave hoping not to be discovered by the enemy. The tall one nearly freaks out and reveals their hiding place, but the short one quiets him with a hug, a pat on the shoulder, and the words, "Hush now, I'm right here. You're not alone." Then as the novel progresses, the reader figures out which pair of police officers these Marines are.

True and funny and sad

I was a choirboy groupie. I didn’t do what the girls in the book did, but I attended many a choir practice. This book is so spot on, and hasn’t been outdated much at all. Cops DO get off work and can’t just go to sleep, at 3 am. They have the most tense jobs of any other person I know. I have loved some and hated some. If you want to know what being a policeman is really like, this is like riding along in the car and just watching their lives and jobs. It’s beautifully written and read perfectly. It’s one of my favorite audiobooks and I listen to it sometimes still, up until the end, when I get too sad. I believe the author was a cop and his story is like reading a compilation of every cop I’ve ever known. Lots of brass that are up and coming and don’t do a lick of police work. I hate that I dislike so many cops now and how they feel they have to act, to protect themselves. It’s a thankless and underpaid job. If you want to know all about it, read this great series of vignettes. I like to think there’s no need anymore for choir practices, but something tells me I’m being naive. Again, a beautiful story and perfect read!

Missing preface

I read this book in the late 70s or early 80s and thoroughly enjoyed it at the time. I have reread it since and was eager to listen to an audible version. It does not disappoint. Wambaugh is writing from a POV that can only come from experience and I'm left to wonder how many of his characters, setting and situations come from real life. His descriptions can leave the listener sympathetic to the officers that must deal with this life every day of their careers. The narration I found to be entertaining but I took away one star because the audible version II listened to was missing the preface; absolutely essential to the story. Speaks to a central character's background and neuroses that are pivotal to the outcome. I knew it from having read the book multiple times and from having seen the 1977 movie. Note to Audible...please find a way to record that preface and incorporate it into this version.

This is a Masterpiece….

I am no cop, but I have been involved in the criminal justice system as an attorney for over 40 years… I am also a multiply-deployed, combat veteran… And the insight of this book is amazing. It is a psychological story. It is a terrific commentary on PTSD, it is a terrific mystery. and it is an indictment of bureaucracies and the toadying sycophants, who invariably rise to the top, It is a social commentary, it is humorous, it is sad and… it is life. What did I say above? It is a masterpiece. Even more importantly, it is a book that should be read because it pulls no politically correct punches… When I think that the Choir Boys might not make it past the editor for fear of the virtue, signaling social arbiters, determined to destroy freedom of expression, I thank God the first amendment, though battered, still stands.

Not his best

To glib for my taste. Joseph must have been bored when he wrote this. Not near his best

Loved it

You don't have to be cynical to enjoy this read, but it helps. Each character is an over the top take on a characteristic I can place on a fellow officer that I either work with now, or have in the past. Now, none of them as intense as those in the book, but enough to remind me of them. I enjoyed the narrator's voice he applied to each of the characters. There was a mild but steady build up to a larger incident at the end that kept me listening. I highly recommend this read to any who are now, or have ever been, "on the job"

Powerful dark humor

I can remember Joseph Wambaugh saying this was "the truest novel I've ever written" or words to that effect. It's a very raw, very honest portrayal of Los Angeles in the 1960s, seen through the jaded eyes of patrol cops. Parts are laugh out loud funny, and parts will bring tears to your eyes.

A note for modern readers--a lot of the language is very crude, including some racist and sexist language that would not get into print today. Like I say, though, it's honest, brutally honest in many places.

Police classic.

Wambaugh's first and one of his best. Still holds up 4 plus decades later, excellent.