Birds in Hell wrote:I've been meaning to dig into Ellroy's work for some time but that interview has turned that vague desire into a matter of immediate priority.
That's pretty much a standard Ellroy interview. His whole neo fascist curmudgeon persona has been basically unchanged since the mid 90s or so. But he's a great writer. What are you thinking of starting with?
Black Dahlia, I guess?
Yeah I guess that's the best start, even if it's not nearly as good as his later stuff. It's way more of a typical detective novel than what he'd go on to write. And his writing style took a big leap after LA Confidential. My favorite is probably The Cold Six Thousand, though that one got pretty mixed reviews when it came out.
I've been leisurely making my way through Raymond Chandler's work over the last year, a typical detective novel sounds like a decent enough bridge into Ellroy.
