Re: RARA-AVIS: James Ellroy, Interview, Paris Review, 2009

From: James Michael Rogers (jeddak5@cox.net)
Date: 04 Oct 2010

  • Next message: TAIT RAYMOND: "RARA-AVIS: Re: James Ellroy, Interview, Paris Review, 2009"

    Very interesting interview and one that prompted me to reread Blood On The Moon. It was better than I remembered though, as always, he goes over the top ( I think having both the protagonist and the villain endure a homosexual rape is pushing things a bit, for instance). Still, the good parts are just startlingly good.

    James

      ----- Original Message -----
      From: Jack Bludis
      To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
      Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2010 14:46
      Subject: RARA-AVIS: James Ellroy, Interview, Paris Review, 2009

        
      I thought some of you here might be interested in the "Paris Review" interview with James Ellroy from 2009.

      It covers a lot of territory some biography, some literary biography, and a lot of personal opinion. If you're an Ellroy fan, it is probably worth a read:

      http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/5948/the-art-of-fiction-no-201-james-ellroy

      I hope you find something of value in it.

      Jack Bludis

      "Shadow of the Dahlia," a Shamus finalist novel at Amazon.com
      Kindle for now. Soon out in a new trade-paper edition.

      --- On Thu, 9/23/10, rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com <rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

    > From: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com <rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com>
    > Subject: RARA-AVIS: Digest Number 2829
    > To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
    > Date: Thursday, September 23, 2010, 6:35 AM
    > There are 10 messages in this issue.
    >
    > Topics in this digest:
    >
    > 1. Where the Boys Are Not
    > From: Frederick Zackel
    >
    > 2a. Tempted by Trouble by Eric Jerome Dickey
    > From: davezeltserman
    > 2b. Re: Tempted by Trouble by Eric Jerome Dickey
    >
    > From: Ron Clinton
    >
    > 3a. Re: Boothe, not Keach.
    > From: Kevin Burton Smith
    > 3b. Re: Boothe, not Keach.
    > From: Mark Sullivan
    >
    > 4a. Kerry Schooley, R.I.P.
    > From: Kevin Burton Smith
    > 4b. Re: Kerry Schooley, R.I.P.
    > From: Karin Montin
    > 4c. Re: Kerry Schooley, R.I.P.
    > From: Mark Sullivan
    > 4d. Re: Kerry Schooley, R.I.P.
    > From: Karin Montin
    > 4e. Re: Kerry Schooley, R.I.P.
    > From: Brian Thornton
    >
    >
    > Messages
    > __________________________________________________________
    > 1. Where the Boys Are Not
    > Posted by: "Frederick Zackel" fzackel@wcnet.org
    >
    > Date: Wed Sep 22, 2010 10:07 am ((PDT))
    >
    > Where the Boys Are Not
    >
    > It's no secret that lots of women work in publishing. But
    > just how many more
    > women work in publishing than men? In PW's recent Salary
    > Survey (Aug. 2) one
    > statistic stuck out: 85% of employees with less than three
    > years of
    > experience in the industry are women.
    >
    > This week's Publishers Weekly
    >
    > Offered without comment by
    >
    > Fred Zackel
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > Messages in this topic (1)
    > __________________________________________________________
    > __________________________________________________________
    > 2a. Tempted by Trouble by Eric Jerome Dickey
    > Posted by: "davezeltserman" Dave.Zeltserman@gmail.com
    > davezeltserman
    > Date: Wed Sep 22, 2010 2:14 pm ((PDT))
    >
    > You'd never guess this is an excellent crime noir novel
    > from it's title or cover or even the book's description, but
    > it is. Written in first person, Dmytryk Knight, at one time
    > a white collar professional before being reduced to blue
    > collar factory worker, finds himself out of work, and is
    > pushed into robbing banks by his wife. When his wife leaves
    > him, the bank robberies continue with one going horribly
    > wrong before leading up to the big score. The writing
    > reminds me of a mix of early Lawrence Block and recent
    > Walter Mosley, and is also somewhat reminiscent of Reservoir
    > Dogs as the book stays true to it's noir vision throughout.
    > Highly recommended, especially if you like desperate bank
    > robbery books.
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > Messages in this topic (2)
    > __________________________________________________________
    > 2b. Re: Tempted by Trouble by Eric Jerome Dickey
    > Posted by: "Ron Clinton" clinton65@comcast.net
    > ronclinton65
    > Date: Wed Sep 22, 2010 3:46 pm ((PDT))
    >
    > My list of new books that sound terrific by authors I
    > haven't read continues
    > to grow (having just read John Rector's THE COLD
    > KISS)...thanks, Dave. I'll
    > add TEMPTED to my Wish List, along with GAVELSTON by Nic
    > Pizzolatto and AN
    > ORDINARY DECENT CRIMINAL by Michael Van Rooy.
    >
    > On a related note, THE BLACK LIZARD BIG BOOK OF BLACK MASK
    > STORIES is now on
    > the shelves, all 1136 pages of pulpish goodness, as is THE
    > BEST AMERICAN
    > NOIR OF THE CENTURY, ed. by Penzler and Ellroy. The
    > former is a must-buy
    > for me, the latter...well, it'll probably have to wait a
    > while.
    >
    > Ron C.
    >
    >
    > > -----Original Message-----
    > > From: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
    > [mailto:rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com]
    > On
    > > Behalf Of davezeltserman
    > > Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 2:14 PM
    > > To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
    > > Subject: RARA-AVIS: Tempted by Trouble by Eric Jerome
    > Dickey
    > >
    > > You'd never guess this is an excellent crime noir
    > novel from it's title or
    > cover or
    > > even the book's description, but it is. Written in
    > first person, Dmytryk
    > Knight, at one
    > > time a white collar professional before being reduced
    > to blue collar
    > factory worker,
    > > finds himself out of work, and is pushed into robbing
    > banks by his wife.
    > When his
    > > wife leaves him, the bank robberies continue with one
    > going horribly wrong
    > before
    > > leading up to the big score. The writing reminds me of
    > a mix of early
    > Lawrence
    > > Block and recent Walter Mosley, and is also somewhat
    > reminiscent of
    > Reservoir
    > > Dogs as the book stays true to it's noir vision
    > throughout. Highly
    > recommended,
    > > especially if you like desperate bank robbery books.
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > > ------------------------------------
    > >
    > > RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
    > > Yahoo! Groups Links
    > >
    > >
    > >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > Messages in this topic (2)
    > __________________________________________________________
    > __________________________________________________________
    > 3a. Re: Boothe, not Keach.
    > Posted by: "Kevin Burton Smith" kvnsmith@thrillingdetective.com
    > thrillingdetective
    > Date: Wed Sep 22, 2010 2:51 pm ((PDT))
    >
    > James wrote:
    >
    > > Keach? Are you certain you aren't thinking of the
    > Powers Boothe series?
    >
    > AAAARRRGGHHH!!!! Oh, gawd, yes. I apologize. Yes, I meant
    > Powers Boothe. With Keach in the role, the Marlowe series
    > would have been just that much worse.
    >
    > Serves me right for replying before my morning coffee.
    >
    > But speaking of lousy adaptations, did anyone who ever read
    > Spillane ever really buy Keach as Hammer?
    >
    > and PatrickĀ wrote:
    >
    > > I'm pretty much convinced that a subversion of all of
    > Chandler's themes and ideals was in fact Altman's conscious
    > intention.
    >
    > Well, yeah. He never made any bones about it -- that's
    > exactly what he planned. I'm sure Jim or someone can give
    > you the exact quote. At least Altman displayed an
    > understanding and awareness of -- and arguably, respect for
    > -- Chandler, even if his intention was to subvert him.
    >
    > Which is very different from just cherry picking the parts
    > you want to use, and completely ignoring the rest. Or
    > pretending it wasn't there in the first place.
    >
    > Which is what some of those who have adapted Chandler
    > seemed to have done. They completely missed the point,
    > reducing Marlowe to a generic, formless, malleable private
    > eye who can be forced to fit the mold of their own idea
    > ideas. Thus we get Marlowe as The Falcon, as Mike Shayne, as
    > a glib, horny man about town, as a doofus staring straight
    > at the camera who looks more like a constipated insurance
    > salesman than a private eye, as an aging American ex-pat
    > waiting for Viagara to be invented in a swinging London also
    > well past its prime, and as a wisenheimer pre-Rockford.
    >
    > And that's just in the films. The TV shows and radio show
    > were generally even worse.
    >
    > The bruised romantic; the skeptical, cynical idealist; the
    > knight in a game no longer meant for knights, the inherent
    > slow burn sadness of the novels -- not to mention the poetry
    > of Chandler's prose -- that Marlowe's been given short
    > shrift in almost all the adaptations. Anyone who looks at
    > Marlowe and just sees a trenchcoat, a fedora and a gun is
    > missing the point.
    >
    > I'm not saying Altman's THE LONG GOODBYE is the best
    > Marlowe adaptation out there, but I do wonder about the
    > vitriol it inspires among those who give the other
    > travesties a free pass. Particularly when you consider how
    > misguided and just plain awful so many of them have been.
    >
    > Is it just that THE LONG GOODBYE and THE BIG SLEEP are the
    > only Chandler flicks they've seen?
    >
    >
    > Kevin Burton Smith
    > Editor/Founder
    > The Thrilling Detective Web Site
    > "Wasting your time on the web since 1998."
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > Messages in this topic (2)
    > __________________________________________________________
    > 3b. Re: Boothe, not Keach.
    > Posted by: "Mark Sullivan" DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net
    > dj.anonyme
    > Date: Wed Sep 22, 2010 4:51 pm ((PDT))
    >
    >
    > Kevin wrote:
    > "Well, yeah. He never made any bones about it -- that's
    > exactly what he planned. I'm sure Jim or someone can give
    > you the exact quote. At least Altman displayed an
    > understanding and awareness of -- and arguably, respect for
    > -- Chandler, even if his intention was to subvert him."
    > I'll be that someone that fans the flame.
    > Here's what Altman said:
    > "The research material we used primarily was Raymond
    > Chandler Speaking, a series of letters, and I made everybody
    > that worked on the picture read that thoroughly. I took the
    > two main characters, both Philip Marlowe and Roger Wade, and
    > I took character traits of Chandler and I applied them to
    > both, and I made one the voice and the other the conscience.
    > His plots are so complicated and so full of holes that the
    > way he plugged the holes was to further complicate them. But
    > he used this thread to hang about sixty thumbnail essays on,
    > so the real interest in Raymond Chandler, to me, were those
    > essays. We tightened the plot up; I dropped half the
    > characters probably; then I used that line to hang a bunch
    > of film essays on. They weren't actually lifted from Raymond
    > Chandler so much as they were projections of him, because if
    > Raymond Chandler were alive in 1972 he wouldn't see things
    > the way he did in 1950 because he would himself have been
    > that much older. I've kept the story in 1952, but set it in
    > 1972. The goodbye is people going, not in separate
    > directions, but going in the same direction at a different
    > pace."
    > And here's what scriptwriter Leigh Brackett said:
    > "In its first release, the film was greeted, by some
    > critics, with the tone of outrage generally reserved for
    > those who tamper with the Bible. This seems just a bit silly
    > to me. I'm an old Chandler fan from way back, probably
    > farther back than a lot of the critics. He was a powerful
    > influence on my own work in those years. But I don't feel
    > that any sacrilege was being committed. And I doubt that
    > Chandler himself would have regarded every aspect of his
    > work as Holy Writ.
    >
    > "I think he might even have liked Altman's version of The
    > Long Goodbye."
    > Mark
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > Messages in this topic (2)
    > __________________________________________________________
    > __________________________________________________________
    > 4a. Kerry Schooley, R.I.P.
    > Posted by: "Kevin Burton Smith" kvnsmith@thrillingdetective.com
    > thrillingdetective
    > Date: Wed Sep 22, 2010 6:18 pm ((PDT))
    >
    > It's not been a good month. I just heard from Peter
    > Sellers, the Canadian crime writer and editor, that our good
    > friend Kerry Schooley is dead, apparently of a heart
    > attack.
    >
    > I'll try to find out more as soon as I can, but I'm not at
    > home right now. And not very good company, I'm afraid.
    >
    > Kerry was of the brightest lights of this list, an
    > intelligent and well-read man whose opinions carried not
    > just weight but grace and wit and generosity of spirit --
    > things we're too often too of. He was also, under the pen
    > name of John Swan, one of the best noir writers and editors
    > in Canada, sadly under-appreciated. He actually bought my
    > first published fiction. But more than that, he was a good
    > friend. A very good friend.
    >
    > Somehow we lost touch over the last few years, and now
    > we'll never be able to catch up. Fuck. I'm really hurting.
    >
    > Crank up the Otis Redding, boys. We're just lost one of the
    > good ones.
    >
    > Kevin
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > Messages in this topic (5)
    > __________________________________________________________
    > 4b. Re: Kerry Schooley, R.I.P.
    > Posted by: "Karin Montin" kmontin@videotron.ca
    > jckm2
    > Date: Wed Sep 22, 2010 6:31 pm ((PDT))
    >
    > That is a shock. Kerry had been writing less
    > frequently in the past
    > couple of years, but his posts were always thoughtful and
    > literate --
    > and quite often deliberately provocative. I met him at the
    > Toronto
    > Bouchercon at the same time I met Kevin and a bunch of
    > other Rara
    > Avians. I can't count him as a friend, but I will
    > definitely miss his
    > contributions; in fact, I had been missing them already.
    >
    > Karin
    >
    > On 22/09/2010 9:18 PM, Kevin Burton Smith wrote:
    > > It's not been a good month. I just heard from Peter
    > Sellers, the Canadian crime writer and editor, that our good
    > friend Kerry Schooley is dead, apparently of a heart
    > attack.
    > >
    > > I'll try to find out more as soon as I can, but I'm
    > not at home right now. And not very good company, I'm
    > afraid.
    > >
    > > Kerry was of the brightest lights of this list, an
    > intelligent and well-read man whose opinions carried not
    > just weight but grace and wit and generosity of spirit --
    > things we're too often too of. He was also, under the pen
    > name of John Swan, one of the best noir writers and editors
    > in Canada, sadly under-appreciated. He actually bought my
    > first published fiction. But more than that, he was a good
    > friend. A very good friend.
    > >
    > > Somehow we lost touch over the last few years, and now
    > we'll never be able to catch up. Fuck. I'm really hurting.
    > >
    > > Crank up the Otis Redding, boys. We're just lost one
    > of the good ones.
    > >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > Messages in this topic (5)
    > __________________________________________________________
    > 4c. Re: Kerry Schooley, R.I.P.
    > Posted by: "Mark Sullivan" DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net
    > dj.anonyme
    > Date: Wed Sep 22, 2010 6:50 pm ((PDT))
    >
    >
    > Oh, man, that really sucks. We spent a great day
    > together trawling Maryland used bookstores after the DC
    > Bouchercon years ago, Kerry, Kevin and I. Kerry will
    > be missed.
    > Mark
    >
    >
    > > To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
    > > From: kvnsmith@thrillingdetective.com
    > > Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:18:45 -0700
    > > Subject: RARA-AVIS: Kerry Schooley, R.I.P.
    > >
    > > It's not been a good month. I just heard from Peter
    > Sellers, the Canadian crime writer and editor, that our good
    > friend Kerry Schooley is dead, apparently of a heart
    > attack.
    > >
    > > I'll try to find out more as soon as I can, but I'm
    > not at home right now. And not very good company, I'm
    > afraid.
    > >
    > > Kerry was of the brightest lights of this list, an
    > intelligent and well-read man whose opinions carried not
    > just weight but grace and wit and generosity of spirit --
    > things we're too often too of. He was also, under the pen
    > name of John Swan, one of the best noir writers and editors
    > in Canada, sadly under-appreciated. He actually bought my
    > first published fiction. But more than that, he was a good
    > friend. A very good friend.
    > >
    > > Somehow we lost touch over the last few years, and now
    > we'll never be able to catch up. Fuck. I'm really hurting.
    > >
    > > Crank up the Otis Redding, boys. We're just lost one
    > of the good ones.
    > >
    > > Kevin
    > >
    > > ------------------------------------
    > >
    > > RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
    > > Yahoo! Groups Links
    > >
    > >
    > >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > Messages in this topic (5)
    > __________________________________________________________
    > 4d. Re: Kerry Schooley, R.I.P.
    > Posted by: "Karin Montin" kmontin@videotron.ca
    > jckm2
    > Date: Wed Sep 22, 2010 6:53 pm ((PDT))
    >
    > I found this page that mentions some of Kerry's
    > other interests, and
    > gives a link to him performing Joe Hill: <*http://tinyurl.com/28ox5cb*>.
    >
    > Karin
    >
    > On 22/09/2010 9:31 PM, Karin Montin wrote:
    > > That is a shock. Kerry had been writing
    > less frequently in the past
    > > couple of years, but his posts were always thoughtful
    > and literate --
    > > and quite often deliberately provocative. I met him at
    > the Toronto
    > > Bouchercon at the same time I met Kevin and a bunch of
    > other Rara
    > > Avians. I can't count him as a friend, but I will
    > definitely miss his
    > > contributions; in fact, I had been missing them
    > already.
    > >
    > > Karin
    > >
    > > On 22/09/2010 9:18 PM, Kevin Burton Smith wrote:
    > >> It's not been a good month. I just heard from
    > Peter Sellers, the Canadian crime writer and editor, that
    > our good friend Kerry Schooley is dead, apparently of a
    > heart attack.
    > >>
    > >> I'll try to find out more as soon as I can, but
    > I'm not at home right now. And not very good company, I'm
    > afraid.
    > >>
    > >> Kerry was of the brightest lights of this list, an
    > intelligent and well-read man whose opinions carried not
    > just weight but grace and wit and generosity of spirit --
    > things we're too often too of. He was also, under the pen
    > name of John Swan, one of the best noir writers and editors
    > in Canada, sadly under-appreciated. He actually bought my
    > first published fiction. But more than that, he was a good
    > friend. A very good friend.
    > >>
    > >> Somehow we lost touch over the last few years, and
    > now we'll never be able to catch up. Fuck. I'm really
    > hurting.
    > >>
    > >> Crank up the Otis Redding, boys. We're just lost
    > one of the good ones.
    > >>
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > Messages in this topic (5)
    > __________________________________________________________
    > 4e. Re: Kerry Schooley, R.I.P.
    > Posted by: "Brian Thornton" bthorntonwriter@gmail.com
    > briannthorntonn
    > Date: Wed Sep 22, 2010 7:09 pm ((PDT))
    >
    > DAMNDAMNDAMN.
    >
    > Met Kerry once in person, at the Toronto B'con noir fiction
    > panel. What a
    > great guy. Enjoyed his contributions to the list for
    > the past decade.
    >
    > He was a man, take him for all in all, I shall not look
    > upon his like again.
    >
    > Brian
    >
    > On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 6:18 PM, Kevin Burton Smith <
    > kvnsmith@thrillingdetective.com>
    > wrote:
    >
    > >
    > >
    > > It's not been a good month. I just heard from Peter
    > Sellers, the Canadian
    > > crime writer and editor, that our good friend Kerry
    > Schooley is dead,
    > > apparently of a heart attack.
    > >
    > > I'll try to find out more as soon as I can, but I'm
    > not at home right now.
    > > And not very good company, I'm afraid.
    > >
    > > Kerry was of the brightest lights of this list, an
    > intelligent and
    > > well-read man whose opinions carried not just weight
    > but grace and wit and
    > > generosity of spirit -- things we're too often too of.
    > He was also, under
    > > the pen name of John Swan, one of the best noir
    > writers and editors in
    > > Canada, sadly under-appreciated. He actually bought my
    > first published
    > > fiction. But more than that, he was a good friend. A
    > very good friend.
    > >
    > > Somehow we lost touch over the last few years, and now
    > we'll never be able
    > > to catch up. Fuck. I'm really hurting.
    > >
    > > Crank up the Otis Redding, boys. We're just lost one
    > of the good ones.
    > >
    > > Kevin
    > >
    > >
    >
    >
    > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > Messages in this topic (5)
    >
    >
    >
    > RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
    >
    >
    > ----------------------------------------------------------
    > Yahoo! Groups Links
    >
    >
    > rara-avis-l-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
    >
    >
    > ----------------------------------------------------------
    >
    >

      

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