At war with the establishment, putting themselves in reckless danger and succumbing to terrible habits, these unreliable figures are dependably entertaining
July 2022
Observer New Review Q&A
James Ellroy: ‘I’m trying to have a strong third act. I’m in competition with Philip Roth’
The author of LA Confidential and Black Dahlia on falling in love with a murder victim, not owning a computer and his new true-crime podcast series
May 2022
What we're reading
What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in May
Poet Dean Atta, writer and critic PD Smith and Guardian readers Jessica and Brenda discuss the titles they’ve read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments
October 2020
Reading group
A Brief History of Seven Killings: unwieldy, occasionally tedious – and magnificent
A book about Bob Marley, told by everyone but Bob Marley – in the vein of Gay Talese or James Ellroy, Marlon James’s Booker winner brings in a dozen competing voices
February 2020
‘I knew pretty quickly I was on to something’: James Ellroy on writing The Black Dahlia
The death of wannabe starlet Elizabeth Short became entwined in Ellroy’s mind with the murder of his mother – and inspired his bestselling novel
June 2019
This Storm by James Ellroy review – Nazis, orgies and Orson Welles
The latest instalment of the writer’s blood-soaked alternative history
Pass notes
Why is James Ellroy insisting that nothing interesting happened after May 1972?
Nothing after that date ‘vibrates my vindaloo,’ the anti-liberalist novelist told the Hay festival. Could it possibly be connected with his views on Trump?
James Ellroy says film adaptation of LA Confidential was 'as deep as a tortilla'
Speaking at Hay festival, the American crime writer has few kind words for film-makers
May 2019
This Storm by James Ellroy review – a second prequel to the LA Quartet
Culture webchats
James Ellroy on his nervous breakdown, TV adaptations and plans for future books
Reading group
James Ellroy thinks he's a moralist – do you agree?
Books interview
James Ellroy: ‘I’ve been canonised. And that’s a gas’
Reading group
James Ellroy wastes no time, or words, in pushing readers inside US history
Reading group
American Tabloid by James Ellroy is our Reading group book for May
April 2019
Reading group
Reading group: Which James Ellroy novel should we read in May?
With a new volume due in his second LA Quartet, it’s a good time to read this justly self-declared master of fiction. But which book?
March 2019
Top 10s
Top 10 books about Hollywood
From Joan Didion to James Ellroy, novelist and director Wayne Holloway picks his favourite writing about California’s dream factory
July 2018
Top 10s
Top 10 books about gangsters
From The Godfather to LA Confidential, these are some of the most compulsive tales of men who live and die in the mob
December 2016
Top 10s
Top 10 slangy crime novels
As well as masterful exercises in suspense and social realism, the best fiction in this genre is also a rich repository of slang. And that’s no Archbishop Laud
September 2016
Film blog
Curtis Hanson: a thrilling film-maker and effective exponent of mainstream Hollywood style
Curtis Hanson, Oscar-winning director of LA Confidential, dies aged 71
