Monday, October 20, 1997
Novelist focuses on craft not fame
By Brandon Wilson
Daily Bruin Contributor
By the standards of many, dedication has paid off handsomely for
James Ellroy. The novelist is now much in demand in this town as a
result of director Curtis Hanson and co-writer Brian Helgeland’s
adaptation of "L.A. Confidential" into a big budget studio
affair.
Set in the 1950s, the story charts the course of three L.A.
cops, each morally compromised in some respect as they confront
both institutional evil and their own personal demons on a ride
through the dark side of paradise.
All but one of Ellroy’s 10 novels has been optioned, and after
completing his first memoir "My Dark Places," he’s written three
screenplays, one an adaptation of his novel "White Jazz" (which
rounds out his L.A. Quartet, picking up where "L.A. Confidential"
leaves off), the other two original scripts set in present-day Los
Angeles.
But even more than his previous successes and the avalanche of
praise set off by the film "L.A. Confidential" (directed and
co-written by Curtis Hanson), Ellroy is affected most by the
reaction his non-fiction effort has gotten from both his old fans
and new ones.
"It’s been overwhelmingly positive," says Ellroy of the feedback
to his memoir. "The response from women has floored me. I was
walking on Sunset Boulevard just now, killing time, and a woman
walked by; she looked over, I could tell she recognized me. I went
in to a coffee place, she came in and said, ‘Are you Mr. Ellroy?’
She whipped out a copy of ‘My Dark Places’ and we sat down and had
a conversation. She was very alive to the book because it’s so much
on the side of women and fascinated by the character of my
mother."
"It also attracted another level (of criticism)," he continues.
"There are people that are always reluctant to anoint me as a great
writer; they’re minimalist, many of my critics; and they’re
embarrassed by passion. They want things to be chaste, and
off-hand, and Raymond Carver-like about small people leading small
lives. That to them is the common thread of humanity, that people
lead small lives. I don’t want to lead a small fuckin’ life. …
But as you ascend in your own career, you just get thick-skinned
about it. Opinions are like assholes, everybody’s got one."
Another new avenue the memoir has taken the novelist is that of
journalist. Ellroy has signed a two-year contract with GQ magazine
for three feature articles, two essays and one piece of fiction per
year.
Among other topics, Ellroy will also get to explore his favorite
sport: "I want to do a boxing piece for GQ next year, and I will. I
want to cover a black vs. Latin major fight, and I want to go talk
to the people involved without injecting myself into (the
situation). I want to get at what’s it like in a money hierarchy,
where in this little universe it’s blacks and Latins who are
calling the shots. I want to go and tell the story largely through
dialogue on race – go out and provoke these guys, the trainers, the
promoters, the money people, the Don King-suckasses, and the people
surrounding them. I want to get into these two divergent male
dominated machismo racial cultures, in Vegas, over the course of a
fight week."
And then there’s that film. Ellroy has already gone on record
countless times to voice his admiration for this cinematic
adaptation of his work. Ellroy served as unofficial advisor to
Hanson and Helgeland, and visited the set several times. His
attitude has been "my book, their film," an attitude the filmmakers
took as both encouraging and liberating. Though he never kept his
hopes up in regard to his book getting proper treatment from
Hollywood, he is also surprised at how it has changed the way he
looks at his own work.
"I see now when I reread passages of the book, Russell Crowe,
Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, Kevin Spacey, et al, saying the words,
which is amazing. It’s amazing to see such a brilliant visual
rendition of my book; I don’t think a bad film can hurt a novel,
but a good film can help a novel, as has happened with ‘L.A.
Confidential.’"
So the question remains: Is America ready for James Ellroy?
Despite mass adulation from critics, the public has had a somewhat
restrained reaction to the film. While many authors might sweat out
such a ponderous reaction from the masses, Ellroy responds with
characteristic candor and unwavering focus on what really
matters.
"I’m not interested in any more film work. All my books except
one have been optioned. I’m cutting off all media at the end of the
year, so I don’t get overexposed and can save something for the
next book. … ‘Cause … man, we all die, Dashiell Hammett,
Raymond Chandler, Ralph Ellison, Dostoevsky, like all these
motherfuckers, we all die. And what have you got behind you? You
wear great threads, drive sports cars, get lots of ugambo while
you’re here. But in the end, if you can leave some great books
behind, that’s what it’s all about."
Although the crime novelist currently has three scripts in
development, he doesn’t dwell on them. He looks forward to the next
two and a half years, during which he will write his next
blockbuster, the sequel to "American Tabloid." The events
(bracketed by the Kennedy killings) between 1963 and 1968 will be
his focus, and Ellroy promises an epic bigger than his previous
magnum opus. For him, the solitude of novel-writing and the
tranquility of Kansas City outweigh the world of screenwriting and
this city to which he is inextricably bound.
"I don’t want a career as a screenwriter. I love a good film,
but if I never saw another one I’d be perfectly dandy. So what it
all means is, it’s time to write another novel and make sure it’s
the best I’m capable of doing."