The Glitter Dome by Joseph Wambaugh

A grim look at the ugly underbelly of life as a Hollywood cop

The 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 cops flood the seedy tiki bar, seeking to blow off a little steam at the end of their shifts.

Bellowing in the middle of the dance floor is Buckmore Phipps, the burly bully of Hollywood Boulevard. At one end of the bar, 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.