The cavernous space of the local corporate bookshop bustles with activity on this Saturday night. Inside the bookshop, a man reads of gruesome events. A group of 60 have gathered to listen to this author, who many consider the Dostoevsky of hardboiled fiction, as he recounts in detail how his mother's body was discovered. The crowd is riveted. After the curious venture is over, their brows furrow as the words slap unpleasant images into their minds.
Parents shoo their kids out of earshot into the kids section.
As the chapter reading concludes, the group claps. These lines have been created by Ellroy, ever the best promoter for his unique brand of crime lit, to grab the attention of readers who are content to buy only safer name writers like Grisham, Crichton or King. Both books are currently on the top five paperback bestsellers list for both fiction and non-fiction. But this is no overnight success story. Ellroy has been churning out blistering pulp fiction for 18 years, earned the devotion of an international cult following, and wrote the basis for the year's most effusively-praised American film.