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All you need to know about James Ellroy: Renowned American Writer

James Ellroy is a $10 million net-worth American mystery fiction writer and essayist. Novels by James Ellroy include “The Black Dahlia” and “L.A. Confidential.”

He began his writing career in the noir fiction genre before moving on to postmodern historiographic metafiction and incorporating real-life incidents into his works. Several of his books have been made into movies, including “The Black Dahlia,” “L.A. Confidential,” and “Killer on the Road.”

Who is James Ellroy?

James Ellroy was born in Los Angeles, California on March 4, 1948, to Geneva Odelia and Armand Ellroy. His mother was a nurse, while his father was a business manager. His parents split in 1954, and he relocated to El Monte, California, with his mother. Ellroy saw his mother naked w hen he was seven years old and formed a sexual fantasy focused on her. Throughout his youth, he battled this fascination, developing a psychosexual bond with her and attempting to see her naked. After his mother was raped and murdered in 1958, his fixation came to an end. Her death was never solved.

Ellroy has indicated that after learning of his mother’s death, he felt relieved since he was free to relocate to live with his father. Ellroy, on the other hand, was unable to reconcile his feelings over his mother’s murder. This eventually caused him to project his feelings onto another murder victim, Elizabeth Short. He became obsessed with Short’s murder, which occurred in 1947. During this time, he experienced a severe bout of clinical depression.

How old is James Ellroy?

He is currently 75 years old.

What is James Ellroy’s net worth?

He is estimated to be worth $10 Million.

What is James Ellroy’s career?

In 1981, Ellroy released his first novel, “Brown’s Requiem.” Ellroy’s experience as a golf caddie inspired the novel. He later published “Clandestine” and “Killer on the Road.” Following these volumes, he published three more novels known as the Lloyd Hopkins Trilogy: “Blood on the Moon” in 1984, “Because the Night” in 1984, and “Suicide Hill” in 1985. These early works helped Ellroy establish a cult following among fans of crime fiction.

Ellroy went on to earn even greater popularity and critical acclaim with the publication of the L.A. Quartet, the term given to his four most popular works. He initially released “The Black Dahlia” in 1987, based on Elizabeth Short’s murder. He published “The Big Nowhere” the next year in 1988, followed by “L.A. Confidential” in 1990. In 1992, he released “White Jazz.” Ellroy’s writing style shifted from modernist noir fiction to postmodern historiographic metafiction in these four works.

In 1995, Ellroy released “American Tabloid,” the first novel in what became known as the Underworld USA Trilogy. In 1995, the book was chosen “TIME” magazine’s book of the year. The sequel, “The Cold Six Thousand,” became a best-seller. “Blood’s a Rover,” the trilogy’s last novel, was not published until 2009.

Ellroy published his memoir “My Dark Places” in 1996. The novel is about his mother’s murder and his unusual relationship with her. It also sparked the reopening of his mother’s death investigation, albeit the case remains unsolved.


Ellroy released “Perfidia,” the first novel in his Second L.A. Quartet, in 2014. “This Storm,” the second book, was published in 2019. However, following the publication of “The Enchanters,” the third book in the series, Ellroy declared that he would instead be writing a quartet with the intention of publishing two more books.

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Aldo Pusey

Update: 2024-08-03