At LA Times Festival of Books: James Ellroy, Man of Many Words

Each time James Ellroy makes a public appearance it is destined to be a memorable occasion. He’s a showman, he’s bombastic, he’s lewd, and he is often incisively unsentimental about whatever subject that holds his attention. He is a rare “character” in the book world whose quirks, personality and intelligence have come together in just the right amounts to allow him to produce the fine, minimalist crime fiction for which he is known.

At this year’s LA Times Festival of Books, Ellroy was on a panel with Joseph Wambaugh, former LAPD sergeant and novelist. Ellroy’s contribution to the panel was as expected, LA Times Jacket Copy’s Dima Alzayat reports. He came out swinging, dispensing witticisms and expletives.

‘My debt to Joseph Wambaugh is incalculable,’ he proclaimed at one point. It took mere moments for Ellroy to get the audience roaring at unabashed recollections of his time as a social derelict in Los Angeles at roughly the same time Wambaugh was on duty as an LAPD detective sergeant.”

Ellroy admitted to stealing three copies of Wambaugh’s 1973 book The Onion Field and “reading it by flashlight while living in a Goodwill drop box on the corner of 5th Street and Western Avenue.” Their conversation ranged from Ellroy’s upcoming television show called “James Ellroy’s L.A.: City of Demons,” on Investigation Discovery. On the show Ellroy will play host and the narrator of a talking computer-generated LAPD drug sniffing dog that sells the drugs he seizes.

At one point Wambaugh compared the recent work of film director Quentin Tarantino to Ellroy’s work. Ellroy was quick to clear the air about any affinities. Alzayat writes:

‘Quentin Tarantino is not my ball of rice nor my cup of tea,’ he said. He stated his dislike of nihilism and the ‘high, high pitch’ of parody and satire that are prevalent aspects of Tarantino’s work, humorously adding that he, of course, sells and options film rights to his books not to maintain their integrity but because his high-risk lifestyle entails taxes and alimony payments.”

via A profane and explosive James Ellroy, in conversation with Joseph Wambaugh [Updated] | Jacket Copy | Los Angeles Times.