ZACHARY LAZAR

Zachary LazarOn February 21st, l975, Edward Lazar was shot dead in a Phoenix, Arizona parking garage. Lazar's son, Zachary, was seven years old—too young to know his loving, mild-mannered father very well. Evening's Empire is his attempt to reconstruct the sequence of events that led to Ed Lazar's murder, as well as a personal investigation of the man, his time and place, and his motivations. Why did Ed Lazar, a superficially fun-loving but basically quiet, intense, and precise accountant, take illicit risks in his business dealings? Why would he endanger his livelihood, reputation, and family's future? His son has written what he calls a "conjuration" of his father to answer those questions. On the summer night of the first moon landing, l969, Ed Lazar announced to his wife that he had "grabbed the brass ring."—he had gotten his real estate licence and would be going into the land business with his former boss and new partner, Ned Warren. That night Walter Cronkite was shouting "Go, baby, go" at liftoff; six years later, also on the CBS Evening News, Cronkite would be reporting the "gangland-style murder" of Edward Lazar. Ned Warren had become widely known in Arizona as "the Godfather of land fraud," and his former partner, Ed Lazar, was killed the day before he was scheduled to testify against him. Only the hit men were prosecuted—fined but not jailed. Based on extensive archival research and interviews with Ed Lazar's friends, business associates, and family members, and clarified by scenes imagined in the context of this evidence, Zachary Lazar has written a piercing and singular story of the consequences of careless ambition.

À la fin des années 60, l'univers des Rolling Stones et celui de Charles Manson se sont entrechoqués pour un instant terrible, sur le fil du rasoir. Ce roman montre l'irrésistible ascension de ces forces dévastatrices et leur collision finale. Sympathie pour le démon, c'est l'histoire des Rolling Stones - depuis les clubs miteux de Londres jusqu'aux tournées déjantées aux Etats-Unis - c'est l'histoire de Brian Jones, le premier leader du groupe dont la confusion et la jalousie s'intensifient tandis que le groupe se transforme. Il y aussi ce jeune paumé, Bobby Beausoleil, sous l'emprise d'une dangereuse influence. Ami du réalisateur Kenneth Anger, il apparaît aux côtés de Mick Jagger dans le film Invocation of my Demon Brother . Zachary Lazar donne vie à une époque tourmentée, torturée entre les mouvements puritains et l'emprise du rock n' roll. Sous sa plume, les stars du rock et leurs démons s'animent pour montrer leur part d'ombre. Il signe un magnifique roman sur une génération, sur l'emprise des hommes, l'emprise des gourous, l'emprise de la musique.