> but it does seem to me that even the worst of > Ellroy's characters generally have some redeeming characteristics, > something to balance out their bad qualities. I guess this depends on what you consider redeeming characteristics. I can't see anything even remotely redeeming about Dudley Smith, for example. Even Ellroy's protagonists don't strike me as "good", they're simply "less bad". > Even so, I must admit > to being hard-pressed to explain the appeal of an Ellroy book. I > just know that nothing else I've ever read has affected me on such a > basic, even "visceral" level. When I'm reading Ellroy, I'm caught > up in a swirling, pulse-pounding, nail-biting experience, probably > not too dissimilar to the hazy world his characters move through. For me this is *exactly* the appeal of Ellroy. It's the same attraction I have to Paul Cain and Jim Thompson. The best you can hope for in their worlds is the lightest shade of gray. Bill "Not the comedian" Murray bmurray@voicenet.com Visit "Hard Boiled" at http://www.voicenet.com/~bmurray/index.html Guinness is good for you! It give you strength! - # RARA-AVIS: To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" # to majordomo@icomm.ca