This Storm
A novel

Ellroy has fallen in love with his style at the expense of narrative and coherence, to say nothing of economy. That style combines overly mannered fastidiousness and arcane usages with manic bebop hipster wooo-wooo. This one connects an old gold robbery with war frenzy even as Nazis and Stalinists c......more

To be published by Alfred A. Knopf on 4 June 2019 When PERFIDIA, the first volume of James Ellroy's second L.A. Quartet, came out, I said: "Volume Two promises to be more profane; I can't wait." I was right. A friend did not like PERFIDIA; he said it read like someone doing a parody of Ellroy. He may......more

I met James Ellroy when purchasing this book at a book signing. I was nervous, having heard plenty of stories about his uncouth behavior in public. But he was actually quite nice and gracious with his time. It seems to me that once he rides out his initial wave of anxiety and gets comfortable in a s......more

“Quando compongo devo immergermi nell’umore che la musica tenta di esprimere. Qui abbiamo il caos…” (Otto Kemperer) Soltanto poche pagine e ci troviamo catapultati e immersi nell’allucinato e tentacolare universo infernale di James Ellroy. Lasciate ogni speranza, voi che entrate, che la prosa, gli ev......more

I’ve loved much of what Ellroy wrote in his early days, and was dismayed at his over the top 60’s big picture paranoia. The second forties book is a mixed bag, but what tips it into parody is that he’s stopped writing about real people some time ago. The characters and their intendants are just a swat......more