Hideout: Bibliodiscoteque #17
James Ellroy
The Demon Dog of American Literature introduced me to Crime Fiction.
I am dead serious.
Years ago I worked for a fragile little company that bought and sold deaccessioned books and claimed to be a specialist in of out-of-print periodical sets, monograph collections, and special collections. For a brief moment, we were getting into the field of archival materials like glue and poly-bags and such, and my boss flew us out to Kansas City for the National Convention of Librarians. The convention was amazing and I spent a great deal of time sneaking away from our table to check out the other venders.
One of who had invited James Ellroy to come and speak.
At this time I had no idea who he was other than a guy people talked about. But, he was signing books and I not only wanted a souvenir of the trip but a book to read so I wouldn’t have to spend too much time socializing with the people I flew out with.
As I stood in line to buy some books and get an autograph, I realized that this guy was notorious.
During his reading and Q&A session the room was packed with the librarians and archivists expecting…well, who the hell knows what they were expecting because one Ellroy closed the pages of LA Confidential several dozen left. He spoke for a few brief moments and more fled the room. Still the braver of the bunch eyed the exits as if someone had double dog dared them to sit it out. By the time he finished, I was a convert and the room was all but empty.
A little later, as he signed my books with alliterated statements of nonsense, I told him I had never read any crime fiction before. He told me to read his books.
Since then, I may not have accumulated the most impressive collection of crime fiction (I have several bookcases and most of them are filled with the classics of Dashiell Hammett, Jim Thompson, Raymond Chandler, the complete Hard Case run, and assorted Black Lizard Press and Mysterious Press Books) but it remains the first type of free reading book I grab. There is a redemptive quality to crime fiction. They are the morality stories of today’s world.
These stories suggest that despite heinous acts of barbarism and unsolved crimes good can triumph.
Rage well, …
- Gossip, Gossip, Gossip – Benny Joy
- Crawlin’ (The Crawl) - Untouchables
- I Smell A Rat – Young Jessie
- Police – Eddie Cole & The Three Peppers
- Call The Police – Nat King Cole Trio
- G-Man – Los Straitjackets
- Red Silk Stockings And Green Perfume – Maddox Brothers & Rose
- Shined Up and Ready to Shout – Kim Lenz and the Jaguars
- Only One – Don “Red” Roberts – Don “Red” Roberts
- Thirteen Men – Ann Margret
- Bip Bop Boom – Mickie Hawkes And The Night Raiders
- Love Is My Business – Cliff Gleaves
- Secret Agent Man – Kevin K And The Real Kool Kats
- Special Agent Conrad Uno – Man Or Astro-man?
- Folding Money – Carl Belew
- Certainly All – Guitar Slim
- Wanted For Questioning – Bob Lee
- Race With the Devil – Gene Vincent
- Trouble Bound – Billy Lee Riley
- The Last Of The Secret Agents – Nancy Sinatra
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