Conversation with James Ellroy: Blood's A Rover

The "Demon Dog of American Crime Fiction" visits Books & Books in Coral Gables for a reading and signing of his new novel Blood's A Rover. Premier Guide Miami sat down to find out what that means — and what comes next.

"I am a literary executor and an agent provocateur. I did what I did and saw what I saw and learned my way through to the rest of the story. Scriptural Pure Voracity and scandal red carcass — that conjunction gives it its sizzle. You carry the seed of Phillip within you already. You recall the time, this mirror that captures and sends conspiracy. I am here to tell you that it is all true and not at all what you think. You will read with some reluctance and capitulate in the end. The following pages will force you to succumb. I am going to tell you everything."

These are a few excerpts from James Ellroy's new novel, Blood's A Rover, released on September 22nd, 2009. The author who also wrote The Black Dahlia, L.A. Confidential and The Big Nowhere has earned nationwide success and acclaim for his work, often written in telegraphic prose style — short staccato sentences where words are omitted. Premier Guide Miami's Marie-Junie Pierre had a chance to conduct a one-on-one interview with Mr. Ellroy, otherwise known as the "Demon Dog of American Crime Fiction," at Books & Books in Coral Gables.

PGM: Your novels are hugely concentrated on crime, politics, and history — often a combination of all three. How did this influence come about?

JE: I've always sensed when I was a kid that there was a guy outside of the courts, or the cars with a gun and a briefcase — so what I wanted to do was show this guy, the unsung legbreaker who implements public policy at its lowest level. I always had a sense of history outside the frame of my consciousness as it was going on 40 years ago. It took me 40 years to think of it, but now that I am older, I have a sense of what it all means.

PGM: Tell me about Blood's A Rover. How does it compare to your previous work?

JE: There are definitely more women in this novel as well as more diversity of character and motive. The style is more explicated and the novel is more reader friendly.

PGM: Is there any particular author who has influenced your work?

JE: I would definitely say Don DeLillo and his novel Libra.

PGM: Are there any projects you are working on for release in the near future?

JE: Yes. My memoir, The Hilliker Curse, is coming out next fall.

PGM: Can you give readers a little more information about what the memoir will be about?

JE: It's about women and me.

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