My Dark Places | James Ellroy | Don't call me Mr. Ellroy!

My Dark Places | James Ellroy | Quicky

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My Dark Places

	My Dark Places James Ellroy Vintage, 1997 - 427 pages average customer review:based on 77 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Don't call me Mr. Ellroy!

I met James twice in the past couple of months. The first time at Learning Annex event where I stepped on his foot and admitted I had never read any of his books. The second time at a Bruce Wagner reading where I talked to James for awhile and discovered what an extremely cool and funny guy he was. So, I was obligated to read something of his.
I decided to start with "My Dark Places" because it's his memoir and I wanted to know more about him before moving on.
This book blew me away and I am now an official fan! I highly recommend this book to everyone. Especially girls like me who wouldn't normally read "crime" novels. I couldn't put it down and am now on a mission to read everything he has ever written. It was so great to meet you James and thanks for making me a new fan!

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Quicky

I am writing just to quickly recommend this book. James Ellroy has a vast imagination to go with an experienced life. To say the least he has lived a full life with some fascinating stories.

"My Dark Places" is an entertaining book that keeps you wondering what is next. From the death of his mother to his fantasies about her, this book is full of first hand vivid explanations into the mind of an unusual character that happens to be true.

Stunning, Stirring, and Sublime

A disturbing, involving, enrossing, ride through a man's hellish life and times. And search for love (of all kinds). A rip roaring detective yarn. Ellroy's writing is like Hemingway on crack...he searches for the killer of his mother and tries to find her (and his) soul in the process. Many of the reviews here do justice this extraordinary book. It moved me. It scared me. It fascinated me. Crime to Ellroy is lifeblood. We see where it all began. He is one of the great America writers.

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a true crime story and autobiography ... a bit too much

'My Dark Places' is a most interesting read, and would have been a good book if the author could decide on writing either a true crime story (about the murder of his mother) or an autobiography. Unfortunately the combination of the two makes it to be a but jumbley, with neither theme being fully exploited. The fact that the author, James Ellroy, is a very popular crime writer adds an enticing twist ... and the man can write. But in the end 'My Dark Places' left me with the impression that the book served as primarily some sort of soul-searching exercise by Ellroy rather than something to be enjoyed by the reader.

Oh, there are some interesting moments. The murder of Jean Ellroy is graphically recounted. James Ellroy's perspective of this murder, both as a boy when it happened and as an adult researching the case (..still unsolved), is intriguing and unexpected. However Ellroy also goes into great detail of his rather wasted youth ... it seems he was a total mess for half his life. This was not too interesting, and his transformation from dunken hobo to crime writer extraordinary and member of the establishment is not really addressed. So I felt this entire element was a real waste.

Bottom line: a very mixed bag. Certainly a must read for Ellroy fans. However I'm not so sure if anyone else while find value in reading it.

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