It certainly seems like it’s his most personal. Confidential is still my personal favorite Ellroy novel, I feel like The Black Dahlia might be his opus. I think it’s there to reflect what the LAPD and society at large were unfortunately like at that time. However, I never felt like the prejudices of the time as exhibited by the characters are used cheaply or exploitatively. Unfortunately, with that historical context comes all the naked bigotry, homophobia, and casual misogyny that was typical of the time so be prepared. Everything from the Zoot Suit Riots, The Hollywood Blacklist, the suspicion and eventual internment of Japanese Americans, and the real life tragic murder of Elizabeth Short all add context and personality to his books and help his characters and the world they inhabit seem three dimensional, real, and totally dangerous. He’s also unmatched in his ability to integrate real historical events and people into his stories and provide grounding and resonance to his books. He has an uncanny ability to take the tropes and characters from the noirs of yesteryear and place them in a dangerous and murky world all his own. Needless to say, James Ellroy is one of the greatest noir authors of all time as far as I’m concerned. Confidential that I became the noir junkie I am today. From there I gorged on classics like Murder, My Sweet and Kiss Me Deadly. I’ve been a noir-aholic since 12 years old when I saw The Maltese Falcon on TCM for the first time.
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