Re: RARA-AVIS: Re: Street Kings (Is Ellroy Losing his Halo?)

From: Mark R. Harris ( brokerharris@gmail.com)
Date: 03 May 2008


I haven't read The Cold Six Thousand yet, but I thought American Tabloid was an instant classic of American literature (not just crime literature), and I don't think I'm alone in that.

Mark

On 5/3/08, jacquesdebierue < jacquesdebierue@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> --- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com <rara-avis-l%40yahoogroups.com>,
> "Nathan Cain" <IndieCrime@...> wrote:
> >
> > I have been putting off seeing this movie. There was once a time when
> > I would have rushed out to see anything with Ellroy's name attached to
> > it, and I'm kind of surprised it took so long for anyone to bring it
> > up on this list. It would seem like a movie with an Ellroy penned
> > story would a big screaming deal on a list dedicated to hard boiled
> > crime fiction. It seems, however, to have hardly made an impression on
> > anyone. It wasn't too long ago that Ellroy was the toast of the hard
> > boiled world. It seems to me, like some of the shine has worn off. I
> > know I kind of got sick of him mouthing off about his dead mother, and
> > doing the tortured genius shtick. It began to get unseemly, quite
> > frankly. He suffered a great loss as a kid and had a terrible
> > childhood, but his dwelling on it so much began to make me
> > uncomfortable. It's unsettling to see a grown man work out his mommy
> > issues so publicly. Has Ellroy gone off the rails, and squandered his
> > cachet? What say you fellow list members?
> >
>
> Since Ellroy isn't running for Miss Agreeable Personality, I prefer to
> judge him on his work. I think the books he published before American
> Tabloid, together with Hollywood Nocturnes and My Dark Places, are
> enough to make him into one of the great hardboiled writers. I thought
> American Tabloid and A Cool Six Thousand sucked, unreadable stuff...
>
> Best,
>
> mrt
>
>
>

-- 
Mark R. Harris
2122 W. Russet Court #8
Appleton WI 54914
(920) 470-9855
brokerharris@gmail.com


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