I liked his novels and so I was interested to listen to him on 'Desert Island Discs'. Still available to listen to on iplayer.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00psp99/Desert_Island_Discs_James_Ellroy/
He seemed to be very cold and emotionally crippled by the murder of his mother.
I mention him here because Ellroy said he wore Ivy stuff during the 60s. That did not mean he had a clean cut life style. Looking on wiki he is photographed in the seersucker, bow tie stuff.
All his record choices were classical. Lots of Beethoven and Bruckner.
I prefer American crime fiction apart from Sherlock Holmes.
Last edited by Kingstonian (2010-01-23 12:06:17)
I've read a lot of Ellroy. I prefer his early novels; after the success of "L.A. Confidential" he got into this "Zippity op-bop FLASH" scattered stream of something-or-other mode and the books became (to me) unreadable. ("American Tabloid, for instance.)
But the latest, "Blood's A Rover," while maintaining some of the attitude of "Tabloid," is a more conventional noir thriller, and far more appealing.
But nothing this guy writes is really conventional. He's got a very vivid, and very warped, imagination.
BEE was in vogue for a time, couldn't relate to his stuff at all, either.
Chester Himes Harlem Trilogy is worth checking out, the film of A Rage in Harlem was pretty good too. He led an interesting life as his autobiography A Quality of Hurt attests too. He was inprisoned for armed robbery in the 1930's and later emigrated to Spain, with just two nylon shirts to his name.
His non-crime writing is even better, particulary, The Lonely Crusade about a black welder caught up in union activism and an affair with a white woman back in a '40's shipyard.
I haven't read a novel for years and years, only read history, autobiographies, collected letters and diaries these days. Even poetry is on a back burner, which it shouldn't be.
There's not a living writer who interests me.
Am a fan of Ross MacDonald too, who wrote the Lew Archer series that Paul Newman starred in as Harper.
ellroy is always pretty fresh as far as clothing is concerned. i saw him do a reading for blood's a rover and he was wearing a pink, u-stripe button-down, brooks bow tie, navy windowpane sportscoat, khakis and some heavy, moc-toe oxfords.
he's got his rap down pat of course, but he's still pretty amusing in those types of settings.
Ellroy seems to have lost a bit of weight. In the BBC photo he is thin. Previous photos in his books showed him as a big bruiser.