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James Ellroy

ジェームズ・エルロイ

James Ellroy

Aliases: Lee Earle Ellroy
Pen Names: James Ellroy（Used as his professional pen name）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1948-03-04 （Los Angeles, California, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Lutheran (upbringing) / Christian (self-described)
Residence History
Los Angeles, California, U.S. → El Monte, California, U.S. → Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. → Denver, Colorado, U.S.

Career

Occupations
Crime fiction writer, Essayist
Active Years
1981-
Influenced By
Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Chester Himes, Joseph Wambaugh

Education

Fairfax High School
Period: 在学中に退学（11年生で退学）
Country: United States
Expelled in 11th grade due to disciplinary issues.

Awards

Edgar Award — Grandmaster
2015
Organization: Mystery Writers of America
Result: 受賞
TIME — Fiction Book of the Year (American Tabloid)
1995
Work: American Tabloid
Organization: TIME
Result: 選出
Inducted into Everyman's Library
2019
Work: The L.A. Quartet / The Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy, etc.
Organization: Everyman's Library
Result: 選出

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Black Dahlia

1987 Crime fiction / Historical fiction

Fictionalized account built around the real-life unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short (the Black Dahlia), following multiple investigators in mid-20th-century Los Angeles.

CrimeCorruptionRedemptionDark side of Los Angeles
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Black Dahlia / Brian De Palma (2006)

L.A. Confidential

1990 Crime fiction / Noir

A multi-perspective tale of police and crime that gained wide recognition after its acclaimed film adaptation.

Police corruptionPower and violenceTruth vs. fiction
Adaptations
  • [Film] L.A. Confidential / Curtis Hanson (1997)

American Tabloid

1995 Historical fiction / Conspiracy novel

A 'secret history' of mid- to late-20th-century America, depicting the intertwining of politics and crime through multiple protagonists; the first volume of a trilogy.

Collusion of politics and crimeConspiracyDark side of power

Bibliography

  • Brown's Requiem (1981)
  • Clandestine (1982)
  • Killer on the Road / Silent Terror (1986)
  • Blood on the Moon (1984)
  • Because the Night (1984)
  • Suicide Hill (1986)
  • The Black Dahlia (1987)
  • The Big Nowhere (1988)
  • L.A. Confidential (1990)
  • White Jazz (1992)
  • American Tabloid (1995)
  • The Cold Six Thousand (2001)
  • Blood's a Rover (2009)
  • Perfidia (2014)
  • This Storm (2019)
  • Widespread Panic (2021)
  • The Enchanters (2023)
  • My Dark Places (memoir, 1996)
  • The Hilliker Curse: My Pursuit of Women (2010)
  • LAPD '53 (2015)

Adaptations

  • L.A. Confidential (film, 1997)
  • The Black Dahlia (film, 2006)
  • Brown's Requiem (film adaptations)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Telegraphic, staccato sentence style (telegraphese)Dense, tightly plotted narrativesHard-boiled / noir voice
Recurring Motifs
Corrupt police and authorityViolence and revengeMother's death and redemptionHistoric dark side of Los Angeles

Health

  • Alcoholism
    青年期〜1970年代（回復後は断酒）
    Severely affected youth and early career; later achieved sobriety and focused on writing.
  • Lung abscess / pneumonia
    若年期
    Hospitalized and recovered; was a factor in his decision to stop drinking and concentrate on writing.

Legacy

A major influence on contemporary American crime fiction; known for his telegraphic prose and sprawling 'secret history' trilogies set in Los Angeles. His works have penetrated popular culture through film and TV adaptations and generated substantial academic and critical attention.

Museums

  • James Ellroy Archive (University of South Carolina) University of South Carolina, Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.

Archives

  • Archive held at the University of South Carolina Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections

In Popular Culture

  • Broad increased recognition from the film adaptation of L.A. Confidential
  • Use in crime/noir studies and as university course material

Quotes

  • I am a master of fiction. I am also the greatest crime novelist who ever lived.
    Source: The New York Times (interview) (2006)
  • Closure is bullshit.
    Source: Various interviews

Trivia

  • His mother was murdered when he was a child; the case remains unsolved.
  • Known for a telegraphic, staccato prose style.
  • Suffered from alcoholism in youth and later achieved sobriety.
  • L.A. Confidential was adapted into a successful film that greatly raised his profile.