Glitter Dome
Joseph WambaughA grim look at the ugly underbelly of life as a Hollywood copThe Glitter Dome is the ugliest bar in Chinatown. Its proprietor is a man named Wing, a third-generation immigrant who speaks with a thick accent for daytime tourists, but perfect English at night, when off-duty cops flood the seedy tiki bar, looking to blow off steam. Bellowing in the middle of the dance floor is Buckmore Phipps, the burly bully of Hollywood Boulevard. At one end of the bar, Detective Cal Greenberg complains that today's music has nothing on Glenn Miller, while at the other Detective Al Mackey mumbles into his glass of Tullamore Dew, not caring that Wing shortchanges him on every drink. In this collection of stories, former police detective Joseph Wambaugh dissects what it means to be a cop, a partner, and a man.