Today on #ThreeQuestions legendary author James Ellroy joins @AndyRichter to discuss his “smog-bound fatherland” of Los Angeles, the tragic loss of his mother, his writing process, and his new novel, and more. Listen: https://listen.teamcoco.com/ellroy

WaPo weighs in on The Enchanters:

“The fictionalized Otash plays the morally gray, unreliable narrator of a story that blends the real and imagined into the kind of atmospheric psychosexual spectacle fans have come to expect from the grand master of L.A.-noir…The plot of The Enchanters is sprawling yet intricate, a riveting series of events made all the more vivid by the precision of the details — the heavy wiretap surveillance opens up a prominent peripheral cast of hangers on, psychiatrists, pornographers and other petty criminals that swirl around the edges of the scene. Ellroy’s writing matches its sensational subject. Just a day into his kidnapping gig, Otash jumps off the sobriety wagon. Filtered through Freddy’s drug- and booze-addled but brilliant mind, the novel is vibrant and vivid, with a pungent whiff of decay.”

Read it!!!!! Washington Post

Dig it!!!!! Reviewers are saying the Freddy Otash novels will be mentioned alongside the The L.A. Quartet and Underworld Trilogy as some of Ellroy's best work.

Look at this...

Ellroy keeps things moving at breakneck speed at all times, which is a fantastic feat considering this is a 448-page novel that delves deep into a plethora of scenes and seamlessly mixes fact and fiction. The trick to it is Ellroy's incomparable style; fast, punchy, telegrammatic prose that demands to be read quickly and that flows like an enraged river.

Read it!!!!!! Gabino Iglesias, NPR

Mr. Ellroy dazzles with his detailed knowledge of the geography and denizens of the City of Fallen Angels, his brutal action sequences, his imaginative daring and his more sympathetic female characters.

Read it!!!!!! Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal (or download)

There are no nice guys here, no heroes to support. Looking for a plucky underdog overcoming the odds and neatly saving the day, providing optimism and comfort? James Ellroy isn’t your man. Nothing so easy here...Likability can be boring, and Ellroy is a modern master of making his characters interesting instead of nice.

The pace is hold-onto-your-hat fast....The book is razor-sharp, rocket-fast, and always engaging.

Read it!!!!! Malcolm Mackay, Air Mail

"Disingenuousness is a sin. I’m writing this essay in the spirit of atonement. My ongoing biography should be revised to reflect this..."

Read it at CrimeReads

A Conspiracy in Brentwood

At the scene of Marilyn Monroe's death, the evidence isn't adding up. Overdose, suicide, or murder? Follow rogue cop Freddy Otash down the rabbit hole in James Ellroy's latest Hollywood noir...

Read it at Esquire.com

image Kobal/Shutterstock

Event links:

Chevalier’s, Diesel, Vroman’s, Warwick’s, Book Passage, City Lights, Bookshop Santa Cruz

Dear Ellroyphiles and occasional viewers of this website:

I'm gassed to the gills this morning, kats and kittens. I just got the word that I will receive the Los Angeles Times Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime excellence in writing about the American West. The Deliriously Downscale Demon Dog has gone uptown. This is a biiiiiiiiiig mainstream honor. I'll pluck my plaque and give a riotously ripsnorting speech at USC's boss Bovard Auditorium on the nite of Friday, April 21. I'll be performing at the Times book fair on the USC campus the following day. Scope the L.A. Times website for the dizzying dish on the Kirsch Awards and the book fair. This honor has me heroically humbled. I should note Golda Meir's withering quote: “Don't be so humble—you're not that great.”

God bless you. And—as always—thanXXX for reading my books and perusing my website. April in L.A.—I'll see you there.

Ellroy

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

KJ: James, I listen to a lot of true crime podcasts and James Ellroy’s Hollywood Death Trip is not like any I’ve heard before. I absolutely love it. How do you describe it to people?

JE: These are personal documents that serve as a valediction in blood. The first true crime piece I ever wrote, for GQ magazine, was called “My Mother’s Killer.” It was about the experience of seeing my mother’s LA County Sheriff’s homicide file, unsolved, 36 years after the fact. Reading the file, commenting on the file, describing the file for the pages of GQ, detailing the nitty-gritty minutia of the file. And here it is, and I’m reading it now for Audio Up and Audible. And now I know why God made me a bass baritone: I’ve got a good voice for this.

Catch the rest and listent at the AUDIBLE BLOG or just GET THE PODCAST

Audio Up works with some of the greatest works of fiction, non-fiction and journalism from authors like Stephen King, James Ellroy, Playboy and Sun Records. Audio Up's Chief Creative Officer Jimmy Jellinek will lead a discussion on his experience creating innovative, scripted podcasts and will invite author James Ellroy, with whom Audio Up is working to adapt Ellroy's bestselling American Tabloid into a 10 episode series.

On stage, Ellroy will discuss his experience turning his work into audio entertainment. Ellroy is best known for writing L.A. Confidential, The Black Dahlia and some of the greatest crime novels of the past century.

Attend!