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Crime Writer - James Ellroy

Is the murder of his own mother the key to understanding James Ellroy's writing?

Hardtalk speaks to the man who has been called America’s greatest living crime writer. Through works such as the Black Dalia and LA Confidential, James Ellroy has created a uniquely dark portrait of America. His is a nightmare vision of crazed killers and corrupt cops. He writes of what he knows – his own mother was murdered when he was a child. So is that simple, terrible fact the key to understanding all the words he has ever written?

(Photo: Writer James Ellroy. Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for AFI)

23 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Mon 1 Dec 2014 13:05GMT
  • Mon 1 Dec 2014 20:05GMT

Podcast