Biography

James Ellroy

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Outsized, bombastic and contradictory public persona, with a greatly inflated view of his own work
Starting with L.A. Confidential, stripped-down, telegramatic prose that uses as few words as possible
Sprawling, epic noir tales with labyrinthine plots and ambiguous endings
Often writes crime stories centered around the LAPD
Nearly all his novels are set in Los Angeles, and most in the 1940s-1950s

Was asked by his editor to shorten his novel "White Jazz" from 900 pages to 350. Rather than removing sub-plots, Ellroy achieved this by eliminating verbs, creating a unique style of prose.
The brutal murder of his mother, Jean Ellroy, in 1958, was the basis of his 1996 memoir "My Dark Places".
"The Black Dahlia" (1987) was his seventh novel. It was based on the 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short. The same case was also the basis for John Gregory Dunne's 1977 novel and later movie True Confessions (1981) with Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall ). Black Dahlia was the first novel in a series to become known as "The L.A. Quartet." "L.A. Confidential," "White Jazz," and "The Big Nowhere" are the other novels in the quartet.
Is an avid fan of ex-LAPD officer turned novelist Joseph Wambaugh.
In an article for the UK magazine Neon, Ellroy listed these as his ten favorite crime movies: L.A. Confidential (1997), The Godfather: Part II (1974), The Prowler (1951), Crime Wave (1954), Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), The Killing (1956), Plunder Road (1957), The Lineup (1958), 711 Ocean Drive (1950), Vertigo (1958).

I'm happy for the money. I'm happy for the exposure... Every once in a while there's lightning in a bottle like with 'L.A. Confidential (1997)' so we'll see what happens with The Black Dahlia (2006). Even bad movies create substantial readership for your books.
I am a master of fiction. I am also the greatest crime writer who ever lived. I am to the crime novel in specific what Lev Tolstoy is to the Russian novel and what Ludwig van Beethoven is to music.
[on Ludwig van Beethoven] The greatest artist ever given to earth by God.
My novel The Black Dahlia (2006) will be poorly filmed in March of next year by overrated auteur Brian De Palma. Fatuously good-looking Josh Hartnett and Scarlett Johansson will weakly star in this vehicle. The production designer is Dante Ferretti who production designed most of the great Scor-sleazy movies, so it will look very good and it will be shot by the esteemed Vilmos Zsigmond. I predict an intriguing flop...that will nevertheless sell me a shitload of books.
[on Zodiac (2007)] One of the half-dozen greatest American crime films.

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