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“American Tabloid” is a goddam masterpiece. I went on a similar journey as you with Ellroy in the mid-90’s, but I tapped out on him about 50% into “The Cold Six Thousand.” I’ve always suspected that the progression of his novels reflects the degree to which he was actually being edited. Ellroy isn’t alone in this, there are plenty of est…
“American Tabloid” is a goddam masterpiece. I went on a similar journey as you with Ellroy in the mid-90’s, but I tapped out on him about 50% into “The Cold Six Thousand.” I’ve always suspected that the progression of his novels reflects the degree to which he was actually being edited. Ellroy isn’t alone in this, there are plenty of established writers, filmmakers (cough-Tarantino-cough), etc, who, in the later stages of their successful careers, would greatly benefit from actual editing. Ellroy is probably the most racist, though.
I actually like The Cold Six Thousand, but agree with most everything that Craig said about Ellroy's progression/regression and convoluted plots. What I like about The Cold Six Thousand is the gimmick -- I think there is no sentence longer than eight words. The rat-a-tat pace managed to make it interesting for me and I thought he pulled it off as well as anyone could. That being said, he has a lot of great work. His memoir, My Dark Places, is worthwhile too.
I liked My Dark Places. His other memoir, about his love life, was woof, terrible.
I peeped it. It vibed sour. Felt stinko. Sweat blood. Needed all the reefer in the basin to make it feature.
I thought the rat-a-tat worked better in White Jazz. I also think that employing the gimmick for >700 pages ultimately negates the intended effect.
And yes, My Dark Places is definitely worth the read.
Exactly. It was fresh and cool in White Jazz, which had the benefit of being much shorter and more thoroughly being in the mind/voice of the protagonist, who was at wit's end and probably thinking in that sort of syntax.
Was happy to see it gone with Pefidia, but he also took out a plot and interesting characters too, so
Felt like Perfida turned Dudley from a crooked cop into a Dr No level supervillain.
I'm strugling my way through This Storm, mostly out of a sense of duty, I think, and Dudley in this is just...... ridiculous.
I would certainly not argue with anyone who thought using the technique over a long novel was way too much. It was kind of like the literary equivalent of Krautrock and its sustained repetition.
I land the same way, thought The Cold Six Thousand worked pretty well, could not get into Blood's a Rover. Glad to know I shouldn't even bother with Perfidia.