Monday, October 16, 2006

The Demon Dog Arrives

I’m James Ellroy, the demon dog of American literature, the author of sixteen books, twelve novels, a full length memoir, a book of short stories and two journalistic collections. Masterpieces, all.

I don’t follow the culture. I don’t read. I don’t go to movies. I don’t watch television or check out newspapers. If you’d like to know why I write the books that I write, I would say, look at the back flap of my hardcovers where it says, “James Ellroy was born in Los Angeles in 1948.”

What’s the deal with The Black Dahlia? There are a combination of factors that make the Black Dahlia case so compelling. The postwar L.A. milieu, the unsolved status, the fact that it’s America’s first media-manufactured homicide case, and the fact that we were all looking for the language to explain the utter savagery inflicted on Elizabeth Short. It’s all those factors.

READ MORE:Exquisite Corpse: Surrealism and the Black Dahlia Murder,” reviewed by Rod Lott (Bookgasm).

4 comments:

anne frasier said...

hi james!
i've been a fan of yours for many years. i i've been trying to recall the name of the documentary that came out i think shortly before the release of the cold six thousand. the scene where you were walking through the snow in the cemetery is something that has remained in my mind even after so many years. the snow had a hard surface layer, so each step was solid before you broke through. i know that seems like a strange thing for me to comment on, but the visual impact was so strong.

Mystery Dawg said...

Hello Mr. Ellroy...man this looks like it is going to be fun.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Ellroy, are you really saying that you don't read???? No books? Not even crime fiction? No newspapers? No magazines? Nothing? How can that be?

Anonymous said...

That angle shot of Bill Stoner looking at you was the money shot. Superimposed with the discription of both Bills' coming to know you, you coming to know your mother, and we the voyers of that Love. Bill loves you, you love him, and your mother; I loved you all from afar. This isn't literary bs. It's just a remark expressing my sentiment. I have had recurring thoughts about that time frame. It reminds me of when I saw the Shawshank Redemption. It really was on a core level a wonderful story about love. Thanks for sharing, andI think it's a wise idea to not share anymore. For your own sake.