James ellroy author biography

It was my task as editor to compile this chronology. At first glance it did not seem particularly daunting as Ellroy has written two memoirs, several autobiographical essays and has discussed his life in hundreds, if not thousands of interviews. I also had to take into consideration that as a memoirist Ellroy tended to be vague regarding dates.

I see two main reasons for this: firstly, in his early life Ellroy dropped out of high school, seldom held a job, went through periods of homelessness, struggled with alcohol and drug addictions, committed several crimes including burglary and shoplifting, and served short sentences at the Los Angeles County Jail. Secondly, Ellroy once conveyed to me that he was purposefully vague about dates, as he wanted to keep some things private.

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For an author who has bared so much of his soul over the course of his career it would be hard not to sympathise with his desire not to keep some elements of his life out of the public eye. Many readers may not be aware that James Ellroy was not born with that name, but was named Lee Earle Ellroy after his father. It was a name he would come to despise feeling it sounded too much like Leroy, and this hatred of his own name typified the luckless, self-loathing man he was for much of his early life.

Ellroy was born just over a year after the discovery of the mutilated corpse of Elizabeth Short on a vacant lot at 39 th and Norton, Los Angeles, on January 15, The relationship between his parents would continue to be hostile, and young Ellroy often found himself caught in the middle of their disputes. Although his mother had promised him a bigger, nicer house, young Ellroy was shocked at how small and dilapidated their new accommodation was.