I think the great unspoken theme in noir fiction is male self-pity. It pervades noir movies. — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
[Raymond] Chandler, I reread him, and there's a lot of bad writing there. I don't think he knew much about people. — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
I'm trying to be less bombastic. I love my books. I think I've done things nobody else has done. — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
Joe Wambaugh's a friend. I know him only casually, but I like him a lot. I think he likes my books. — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
I don't think I came out of anybody. I think I developed out of the influences I described in My Dark Places.… — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
I love thinking about American history, thinking about LA history. I love brooding on crime. — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
Noir is dead for me because historically, I think it's a simple view. I've taken it as far as it can go.… — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
My mother and I will continue on some level that I havent determined yet. I think my mothers a great character, and… — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
I'm not interested in popular culture. I hate Quentin Tarantino. I rarely go to movies. I hate rock 'n' roll. I work.… — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
The novel is final form; it's the ultimate individual final form. Television and motion pictures never get there. You'd be fabulous to… — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
When I look at Perfidia, I think, "That's a Pulitzer Prize winner. That's a National Book Award winner." It's not going to… — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
Periodically I just notch up. And everyone among my colleagues thinks that Perfidia - in its accessibility, its big throbbing heart -… — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
I'm way past the idea of using ideology or political view as a gauge of human character. I simply don't believe it.… — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
I think I'm out of crime fiction now, and I think the dividing line is American Tabloid. — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
I don't think I will write anything that could be even remotely considered a genre novel from this point on. I think… — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
The 250-page outline for American Tabloid. The books are so dense. They're so complex, you cannot write like I write off the… — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
“Fear and I played peek-a-boo - it always seemed to grab my balls and twist just when it felt like something inside me could… — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
My father actually went to college, and my mother went to nursing school, so, you know. I wouldn't... They were actually too square and… — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
I've created a narrative of the world. I live in the world - tenuously, most times. I've avoided the digital world. — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
Some men get the world, some men get ex-hookers and a trip to Arizona. You're in with the former, but my God I don't… — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
In the time just before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when Perfidia opens, we were pre-psychologized. There were no concepts of identity, no politics… — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
“It all came down to money - the great equalizer and common denominator.” — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
I think the great unspoken theme in noir fiction is male self-pity. It pervades noir movies. — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
“I didn't care who we were. I required no consummation. I knew that whoever we were and whatever we had would never stop.” — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
Where’s your sketch pad?” I asked. … “I gave that up,” Kay said. “I wasn’t very good, so I changed my major.” “To what?”… — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
I am a master of fiction. I am also the greatest crime novelist who ever lived. I am to the crime novel in specific… — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
I don't want to recover from writing this book [The Onion]. I feel very poised. I feel like I'm with my mother for the… — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
![“[Raymond] Chandler, I reread him, and there's a lot of bad writing there. I don't think he knew much about people.” quote by James Ellroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b5b/james-ellroy-2967_bad-writing_raymond-chandler-i-reread-him-and-there_582280.jpg)
![“I don't want to recover from writing this book [The Onion]. I feel very poised. I feel like I'm with my mother for the first time ever. I feel like I've confronted her, and the confrontation goes on.” quote by James Ellroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/114/james-ellroy-2967_book_i-don-t-want-to-recover-from-writing-thi_278409.jpg)