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Book	Year	Comments	Order from Amazon.com
Brown's Requiem	1981	A well written Chandleresque novel set in 1980 with anachronisms abound. Although this book may seem tame when compared to his later oeuvre of nihilistic crime fantasy novels, Brown's Requiem gives evidence of Ellroy's natural gift for storytelling. Readers of his later work, will enjoy the esoteric quirks of this novel-for one, Ellroy's most politically correct protagonist.
Clandestine	1982	Clandestine develops one of the fundamental building blocks of Ellroy's work: romanticism. In stark contrast to the cool and detached Fritz Brown (Brown's Requiem), Frederick Underhill has the emotional maturity of a two-year old. Although the novel is a pop psych meditation on justice, the reckless emotionalism of the characters propels the story beyond mediocrity. Ellroy's unusual mix of romanticism and materialistic realism makes even the earlier novels intriguing. Readers of My Dark Places will notice that Ellroy drew much of this story's details from his own mother's death. This book is also notable for the introduction of three LA Quartet characters: Dudley Smith, Mike Breuning and Dick Carlisle.
Blood on the Moon	1983	This book was made into a TV movie called "Cop". Ellroy decries it as one of his more bombastic works and it's easy to see why. Blood on the Moon is the first novel in which Ellroy plays with multiple perspectives using an omniscient narrator. While this technique greatly improves the tempo of narrative, it can not save this absolutely maudlin novel. If you like your romance novels with plenty of blood and bad poetry, then you'll love this one. Out of print. See LA Noir.
Because the Night	1984	A genius psychiatrist (of course all of Ellroy's antagonists are geniuses) coerces gullible patients to perform mostly random acts of violence. This story is built on a very shaky premise and the outcome is predictable. It lacks the audacity of Blood on the Moon and fails to progress beyond it stylistically. Out of print. See LA Noir.
Suicide Hill	1986	The final and redeeming novel of the Lloyd Hopkins trilogy. Ellroy focuses more on the technical aspects of crime and less on the machismo of his cop fantasy world. There's still plenty of fist fights and emotionally retarded behavior from the protagonist, but the story is carefully structured right up to the atypical anticlimax. Out of print. See LA Noir.
Killer on the Road (Silent Terror)	1986	Ellroy's allegorical autobiography. Ellroy abandons the multiple perspective narrative formula he used in the Lloyd Hopkins Trilogy to present a presumably shocking first person. Unfortunately, the novel is little more than the author's attempt to exorcise his own psychological demons. Ellroy drags this theme into Black Dahlia as well with more positive results. Recommended for completists and sycophants only.
Black Dahlia	1987	Although it's the slowest narrative of the LA Quartet, Black Dahlia was a watershed novel for Ellroy. In Black Dahlia, his prose is more economic and his portrayal of police officers less apologetic. If you have never read James Ellroy, Black Dahlia is a great place to start.
The Big Nowhere	1988	Ellroy takes on homophobia in the 50's. Every novel leading up to the Big Nowhere, seems experimental in contrast. With this book, Ellroy seemed to have found his stride writing layered plots and employing multiple perspectives. It worked so well for him that he continued to write three more great novels in this style. In my opinion, this is Ellroy's first classic.
LA Confidential	1990	Inspiration for the eponymous film. This is the most comic novel in the LA Quartet, parodying everyone from the LA mob to Walt Disney. Written in the same fast-paced style as The Big Nowhere, the story is worthy of Hammett.
White Jazz	1992	The conclusion of the LA Quartet. When his editor asked Ellroy to shorten his 900 page work to 350, Ellroy did so by eliminating the verbs. Stylistically, it's the strangest prose Ellroy's written, but it's characters and stories are as rich as any in the Quartet.
Fallen Angels: Six Noir Tales Told for Television	1993	Includes one Ellroy short story.
Hollywood Nocturnes	1994	Features various characters from the LA Quartet novels in unrelated stories. The narrative style is similar to that of The Big Nowhere and LA Confidential with an emphasis on humor. There is even a cutesy story about a conman who falls in love with a pitbull named Basko (Ellroy's pitbull is named Barko).
American Tabloid	1995	My favorite. Ellroy's mythmaking takes on a national scope. Although the plot seems a bit staggering at first, it resolves itself with a brilliant payoff. Ellroy's sense of humor about his work, conspicuously absent from his earlier work, makes this the quintessential crime novel. A great companion piece to Don Dellilo's Libra.
My Dark Places	1996	Part autobiography, part true crime. Some of the true crime material is a bit tedious, but Ellroy's chronicle of his seedy years provides valuable insight into the psychology of his work.
LA Noir	1998	The Lloyd Hopkins trilogy in hardback. Includes Blood on the Moon, Because the Night and Suicide Hill.
Crime Wave	1999	Ellroy's GQ work. It includes annoyingly alliterative anecdotes featuring Danny Getchell and Dick Contino, as well as some interesting true crime pieces and some boring memoir material. This book should leave you hungry for the American Tabloid sequel. Ellroy must be really hot right now, because his publishers have been able to sell three books without producing an original novel.
The Cold Six Thousand	2001	The sequel to American Tabloid.
Destination: Morgue! : L.A. Tales	2004	Articles from GQ and previously unpublished short stories.


Films based on Ellroy's Books


Film	Year	Comments	Order from Amazon.com
Cop	1987	Based on Ellroy's Blood on the Moon, starring James Woods. I've never seen this one, but it's supposed to be terrible.
L.A. Confidential	1997	Curtis Hanson's tasteful film adaptation of Ellroy's classic novel, starring Kim Basinger, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey, and James Cromwell. Although the plot is much different than the book, the acting, set design, and screenplay are right on the mark. It's no Goodfellas, but it's definitely a great period piece.
Brown's Requiem	1998	Jason Freeland's interesting adaptation of Ellroy's aberrant first novel. While Ellroy's fifties' anachronisms are left firmly in tact, Michael Rooker does a brilliant job of playing Fritz Brown as a regular, though sensitive, guy. He is antithetical to the classic hard-boiled private detective in almost every way: he doesn't talk fast, he mumbles; he's not composed, he's compulsive; and when he gets worked over, he feels pain. In fact, he's such a sympathetic character that the violence is somewhat disturbing. An overlooked film, check it out.
James Ellroy's Feast of Death	2008	LA CONFIDENTIAL author James Ellroy surfs the death vibe from the Dallas assassination site of US President John F. Kennedy to the Hollywood intersection where Black Dahlia Elizabeth Short s mutilated corpse was dumped in 1948. Part procedural, part confessional, FEAST OF DEATH is an uncensored carnival ride through Ellroy s dark places, conducted in fearless fashion by a teenage sneak thief turned celebrated author of crime books written in blood, seminal fluid and napalm.

Book

Year

Comments

Order from Amazon.com

Brown's Requiem

1981

A well written Chandleresque novel set in 1980 with anachronisms abound. Although this book may seem tame when compared to his later oeuvre of nihilistic crime fantasy novels, Brown's Requiem gives evidence of Ellroy's natural gift for storytelling. Readers of his later work, will enjoy the esoteric quirks of this novel-for one, Ellroy's most politically correct protagonist.

Clandestine

1982

Clandestine develops one of the fundamental building blocks of Ellroy's work: romanticism. In stark contrast to the cool and detached Fritz Brown (Brown's Requiem), Frederick Underhill has the emotional maturity of a two-year old. Although the novel is a pop psych meditation on justice, the reckless emotionalism of the characters propels the story beyond mediocrity. Ellroy's unusual mix of romanticism and materialistic realism makes even the earlier novels intriguing. Readers of My Dark Places will notice that Ellroy drew much of this story's details from his own mother's death. This book is also notable for the introduction of three LA Quartet characters: Dudley Smith, Mike Breuning and Dick Carlisle.

Blood on the Moon

1983

This book was made into a TV movie called "Cop". Ellroy decries it as one of his more bombastic works and it's easy to see why. Blood on the Moon is the first novel in which Ellroy plays with multiple perspectives using an omniscient narrator. While this technique greatly improves the tempo of narrative, it can not save this absolutely maudlin novel. If you like your romance novels with plenty of blood and bad poetry, then you'll love this one. Out of print. See LA Noir.

Because the Night

1984

A genius psychiatrist (of course all of Ellroy's antagonists are geniuses) coerces gullible patients to perform mostly random acts of violence. This story is built on a very shaky premise and the outcome is predictable. It lacks the audacity of Blood on the Moon and fails to progress beyond it stylistically. Out of print. See LA Noir.

Suicide Hill

1986

The final and redeeming novel of the Lloyd Hopkins trilogy. Ellroy focuses more on the technical aspects of crime and less on the machismo of his cop fantasy world. There's still plenty of fist fights and emotionally retarded behavior from the protagonist, but the story is carefully structured right up to the atypical anticlimax. Out of print. See LA Noir.

Killer on the Road (Silent Terror)

1986

Ellroy's allegorical autobiography. Ellroy abandons the multiple perspective narrative formula he used in the Lloyd Hopkins Trilogy to present a presumably shocking first person. Unfortunately, the novel is little more than the author's attempt to exorcise his own psychological demons. Ellroy drags this theme into Black Dahlia as well with more positive results. Recommended for completists and sycophants only.

Black Dahlia

1987

Although it's the slowest narrative of the LA Quartet, Black Dahlia was a watershed novel for Ellroy. In Black Dahlia, his prose is more economic and his portrayal of police officers less apologetic. If you have never read James Ellroy, Black Dahlia is a great place to start.

The Big Nowhere

1988

Ellroy takes on homophobia in the 50's. Every novel leading up to the Big Nowhere, seems experimental in contrast. With this book, Ellroy seemed to have found his stride writing layered plots and employing multiple perspectives. It worked so well for him that he continued to write three more great novels in this style. In my opinion, this is Ellroy's first classic.

LA Confidential

1990

Inspiration for the eponymous film. This is the most comic novel in the LA Quartet, parodying everyone from the LA mob to Walt Disney. Written in the same fast-paced style as The Big Nowhere, the story is worthy of Hammett.

White Jazz

1992

The conclusion of the LA Quartet. When his editor asked Ellroy to shorten his 900 page work to 350, Ellroy did so by eliminating the verbs. Stylistically, it's the strangest prose Ellroy's written, but it's characters and stories are as rich as any in the Quartet.

Fallen Angels: Six Noir Tales Told for Television

1993

Includes one Ellroy short story.

Hollywood Nocturnes

1994

Features various characters from the LA Quartet novels in unrelated stories. The narrative style is similar to that of The Big Nowhere and LA Confidential with an emphasis on humor. There is even a cutesy story about a conman who falls in love with a pitbull named Basko (Ellroy's pitbull is named Barko).

American Tabloid

1995

My favorite. Ellroy's mythmaking takes on a national scope. Although the plot seems a bit staggering at first, it resolves itself with a brilliant payoff. Ellroy's sense of humor about his work, conspicuously absent from his earlier work, makes this the quintessential crime novel. A great companion piece to Don Dellilo's Libra.

My Dark Places

1996

Part autobiography, part true crime. Some of the true crime material is a bit tedious, but Ellroy's chronicle of his seedy years provides valuable insight into the psychology of his work.

LA Noir

1998

The Lloyd Hopkins trilogy in hardback. Includes Blood on the Moon, Because the Night and Suicide Hill.

Crime Wave

1999

Ellroy's GQ work. It includes annoyingly alliterative anecdotes featuring Danny Getchell and Dick Contino, as well as some interesting true crime pieces and some boring memoir material. This book should leave you hungry for the American Tabloid sequel. Ellroy must be really hot right now, because his publishers have been able to sell three books without producing an original novel.

The Cold Six Thousand

2001

The sequel to American Tabloid.

Destination: Morgue! : L.A. Tales

2004

Articles from GQ and previously unpublished short stories.

Films based on Ellroy's Books

Film

Year

Comments

Order from Amazon.com

Cop

1987

Based on Ellroy's Blood on the Moon, starring James Woods. I've never seen this one, but it's supposed to be terrible.

L.A. Confidential

1997

Curtis Hanson's tasteful film adaptation of Ellroy's classic novel, starring Kim Basinger, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey, and James Cromwell. Although the plot is much different than the book, the acting, set design, and screenplay are right on the mark. It's no Goodfellas, but it's definitely a great period piece.

Brown's Requiem

1998

Jason Freeland's interesting adaptation of Ellroy's aberrant first novel. While Ellroy's fifties' anachronisms are left firmly in tact, Michael Rooker does a brilliant job of playing Fritz Brown as a regular, though sensitive, guy. He is antithetical to the classic hard-boiled private detective in almost every way: he doesn't talk fast, he mumbles; he's not composed, he's compulsive; and when he gets worked over, he feels pain. In fact, he's such a sympathetic character that the violence is somewhat disturbing. An overlooked film, check it out.

James Ellroy's Feast of Death

2008

LA CONFIDENTIAL author James Ellroy surfs the death vibe from the Dallas assassination site of US President John F. Kennedy to the Hollywood intersection where Black Dahlia Elizabeth Short s mutilated corpse was dumped in 1948.
Part procedural, part confessional, FEAST OF DEATH is an uncensored carnival ride through Ellroy s dark places, conducted in fearless fashion by a teenage sneak thief turned celebrated author of crime books written in blood, seminal fluid and napalm.