Photo by Robert Birnbaum (courtesy of the photographer)

James Ellroy

Author of The Black Dahlia

Includes the names: J Ellroy, Elroy James, James Elroy, James Ellory, James Ellory, James Ellroy, James Ellroy, James ed. Ellroy, James Elroy, Jr., JamesTHE BLACK DAHLIA Ellroy ... (see complete list), Kriminalschriftsteller James Ellroy

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Rating	Favorited	Events
26,904 (27,686)	432	727	(3.76)	126
James Ellroy was born in Los Angeles in 1948. His L. A. Quartet novels - "The Black Dahlia", "The Big Nowhere", "L. A. Confidential", & "White Jazz" - were international best-sellers. His novel "American Tabloid" was Time magazine's Novel of the Year for 1995; his memoir, "My Dark Places", was a "Time" Best Book of the Year & a "New Yorker Times" Notable Book for 1996. He lives in Kansas City. (Publisher Provided) James Ellroy was born in Los Angeles, California on March 4, 1948. His parents were divorced and he moved in with his father after his mother was murdered in 1958. The story of his mother's unsolved murder would become the basis for his 1996 nonfiction work entitled My Dark Places. He attended Fairfax High School, where he sent Nazi pamphlets to girls he liked and criticized JFK, while advocating the reinstatement of slavery. He was eventually expelled for preaching Nazism in his English class. He joined the army after his expulsion from school, but after realizing that he did not belong there, he faked a stutter and convinced the army psychologist that he was not mentally fit for combat. After three months, he received a dishonorable discharge and returned home. His father died soon thereafter. He was thrown in juvenile hall for stealing a steak from the local market. When he got out, his father's friend became his guardian, but by the age of eighteen, he was back on the streets. He was sleeping outside, stealing, drinking and experimenting with drugs. It wasn't long before he was thrown in jail for breaking into a vacant apartment. When he got out of jail, he started a job at an adult book store, his addictions growing progressively larger. He was misusing the drug Benzedrex, a sinus inhalent which nearly drove him to Schizophrenia and his drinking was ruining his health. He contracted pneumonia twice as well as a condition called post-alchohol brain syndrome. Fearing for his sanity, he joined AA, became sober and found a job as a golf caddy. At the age of 30, he wrote his first novel entitled Brown's Requiem, which was published in 1981. His other works include Clandestine, Blood on the Moon, Because the Night, Suicide Hill, Killer on the Road, and The Cold Six Thousand. His works The Black Dahlia and L. A. Confidential were adapted into feature films. Ellroy's title, Perfidia, made the New York Times bestseller list in 2014. 030i — biography from The Black Dahlia… (more)

Series

Works by James Ellroy

The Black Dahlia 5,242 copies, 128 reviews

L. A. Confidential 3,281 copies, 36 reviews

American Tabloid 2,720 copies, 43 reviews

The Big Nowhere 1,897 copies, 22 reviews

The Cold Six Thousand 1,790 copies, 20 reviews

White Jazz 1,678 copies, 15 reviews

My Dark Places 1,543 copies, 16 reviews

Blood's a Rover 947 copies, 21 reviews

Clandestine 761 copies, 8 reviews

Brown's Requiem 678 copies, 14 reviews

Perfidia 624 copies, 25 reviews

Killer on the Road 585 copies, 7 reviews

Blood on the Moon 557 copies, 9 reviews

Crime Wave: Reportage and Fiction from the Underside of L.A. 556 copies, 3 reviews

Hollywood Nocturnes 549 copies, 6 reviews

L.A. Noir 443 copies, 2 reviews

Destination: Morgue!: L.A. Tales 408 copies, 5 reviews

Because the Night 372 copies, 4 reviews

Suicide Hill 359 copies

The Best American Noir of the Century (Editor; Contributor) 339 copies, 6 reviews

The Hilliker Curse: My Pursuit of Women 247 copies, 6 reviews

This Storm 232 copies, 5 reviews

The Best American Mystery Stories 2002 (Editor & Introduction) 153 copies

The Dudley Smith Trio: "Big Nowhere", "L.A. Confidential", "White Jazz" 115 copies

The Best American Crime Writing 2005 (Editor) 114 copies, 1 review

Widespread Panic 103 copies, 3 reviews

L.A. Confidential (Penguin Readers, Level 3) 75 copies, 1 review

The L.A. Quartet (The Black Dahlia | The Big Nowhere | L.A. Confidential |… 75 copies

Gedumpt 67 copies, 2 reviews

LAPD '53 58 copies, 1 review

Ed Ruscha: Fifty Years of Painting 43 copies

The Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy, Volume I: American Tabloid; The Cold Six… 39 copies

Ricatto 38 copies, 2 reviews

Tijuana, mon amour [SS] 38 copies

Fallen Angels: Six Noir Tales Told for Television 22 copies

Jungletown Jihad [SS] 19 copies, 1 review

Loco por Donna 13 copies

Grave Doubt [SS] 12 copies

Polar : Spécial Ellroy [omnibus] 11 copies

Extorsion : Suivi de Perfidia 11 copies

[unidentified works] 7 copies

Reporter criminel (Rivages/Noir) 7 copies

L. A. Confidencial. Volumen II 4 copies

Millennium thriller 4 copies, 1 review

Murder and Mayhem 3 copies

Brown's Requiem; Clandestine; Killer on the Road 3 copies

The Best American Mystery Stories 2002 [Audio Book, abridged] (Editor) 3 copies, 1 review

The Black Dahlia (Vol. 1 of 2) 3 copies

Panique générale 3 copies

Browns Grabgesang / Heimlich. Zwei Romane in einem Band. 3 copies

Cronaca nera 2 copies

Gravy Train 2 copies

Pánico / Widespread Panic (Spanish Edition) 2 copies, 1 review

Blut auf dem Mond / In der Tiefe der Nacht. Zwei Romane. 2 copies

The Black Dahlia 2 copies

High Darktown 2 copies

Sangue Vadio (Portuguese Edition) 2 copies

Los Angeles Al Desnudo/L.a Confidential (Spanish Edition) 2 copies

The Black Dahlia (Vol. 2 of 2) 2 copies

Coffret Ellroy, 2 volumes : Le Dahlia noir, L.A. confidential 2 copies

Die schwarze Dahlie / Blutschatten. Zwei Romane. 2 copies

egklimata kata syrroin / εγκλήματα κατά συρροήν 2 copies

Hollywood trema (racconti) 2 copies

Tabloid 1 copy

ELS MEUS RACONS FOSCOS 1 copy

Allgemeine Panik: Roman | Die Schattenseiten Hollywoods der 50er-Jahre… 1 copy

I ragazzi del coro (in The dark side) 1 copy

o nychterinos taxidiotis / ο νυχτερινός ταξιδιώτης 1 copy

Six Years 1 copy

L.A. Confidentials 1 copy

Coup de passion. précédé d'un entretien avec… 1 copy

Els Meus racons foscos : unes mem©øries criminals de Los… 1 copy

The Enchanters: A novel 1 copy

Silent Terror by James Ellroy (1986-12-03) 1 copy

Since I Don't Have You 1 copy

Torch Number 1 copy

“The Poet of Collision: on Dashiell Hammett's day job” 1 copy

Dial Axminster 6-400 1 copy

Hight Darktown; Yours, Jack the Ripper 1 copy

The Art of Fiction No. 201 1 copy

O grande desconhecido 1 copy

California noir : two great mysteries 1 copy

Requiem por brown 1 copy

Ola de crímenes 1 copy

Hvid jazz : roman 1 copy

Jener Sturm: 2 1 copy

Scorciatoie per l'inferno. Storie vere dal mondo del crimine 1 copy

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Also by James Ellroy

Hard-Boiled: An Anthology of American Crime Stories (Contributor) 178 copies, 6 reviews

Granta 46: Crime (Contributor) 150 copies

The Badge (Introduction) 79 copies, 1 review

L.A. Confidential: The Screenplay (Introduction) 72 copies, 2 reviews

20 Stories Pulp Fictions (Contributor) 69 copies, 3 reviews

The New Mystery: The International Association of Crime Writers' Essential… (Contributor) 59 copies, 1 review

Scene of the Crime: Photographs from the LAPD Archive (Introduction) 58 copies, 2 reviews

Street Kings [2008 film] (Writer) 41 copies

Los Angeles Noir 2: The Classics (Contributor) 40 copies

The Graphic Canon of Crime & Mystery, Vol. 2: From Salome to Edgar Allan… (Contributor) 12 copies, 2 reviews

Justice for Hire: The Fourth Private Eye Writers of America Anthology (Contributor) 12 copies

Conversations with James Ellroy (Literary Conversations Series) (Associated Name) 7 copies

Satan's Summer in the City of Angels: The Social Impact of the Night… (Foreword, some editions) 3 copies

Best American and Australian Crime and Murder Writing 6 volume set: Best… (Editor, some editions) 1 copy

Murder by the Book [2006, season 1] 1 copy

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Canonical name

Ellroy, James