I agree. Ellroy has few peers when it comes to
self-promotion. Maybe it comes from his screwed-up childhood.
I understood him a lot more after reading My Dark Places. He
writes about The Crazy Man Act he perfected when his mom was
still alive -- just doing all this bizarre and ridiculous
stuff to get attention from teachers and kids.
"I was the poster boy for the If-You-Can't-Love-Me-Notice-Me
chapter in all child psychology textbooks."
Great on-the-job training for promoting HB.
Hugh
----------
>From: Mario Taboada <
matrxtech@yahoo.com>
>To:
rara-avis@icomm.ca
>Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: RE: Ellroy
>Date: Fri, Apr 20, 2001, 6:56 AM
>
> Dick:
>
> <<The posts about Ellroy's self-proclaimed
genius and
> dismissal of Chandler seem to miss the
point.>>
>
> Let's see: Twain never proclaimed himself a genius;
neither
> did originals like Faulkner, Hemingway, Gaddis, De
Lillo,
> etc. etc. The Ellroy thing is a bit rich, don't you
think?
> Also ridiculous, even in a society of the spectacle
like
> ours.
>
>
> <<He says these things to get people to talk
about
> him.>>
>
> That I believe.
>
> <<And guess what? To sell books in large
quantities
> these days one has to do some sort of shuck and
jive.>>
>
> I don't blame any author who wants to sell lots of
books.
> You write to sell. It's the self-applied word
"genius" and
> the dismissal of other authors that overstep the
boundaries
> of decorum. For example, he accused Walter Mosley
of
> copying him. Well, right now I would not say that
Ellroy is
> a better writer than Mosley. In fact, I believe
the
> opposite is true.
>
> <<James has few peers when it comes to
self-promotion. But
> it would be a mistake to judge the product by the
pitch.>>
>
> Of course. A magnificent book like _The Big Nowhere_
would
> be enough proof of his talent. When I think of
Ellroy, I
> can't help thinking of what happened to John Dos
Passos,
> who is a sort of literary ancestor.
>
> Regards,
>
> MrT
>
>
> =====
>
>
>
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