His boy Ellroy

[Dkipen at aol.com]

Dear Diana et al,

No, I haven't read My Dark Places. I'll put it warily on my list, although
since it doesn't have much to do with the Age of Enlightenment circa M&D, I
may not get around to it much before spring. (Current Books on Tape dashboard
fare: James Fenimore Cooper's The Spy hard on the heels of Ben Franklin's
autobiography, so rudely tweaked in TRP's "Nearer My Couch to Thee" essay.
Other suggestions welcome!) 

Take what I say about Ellroy cum grano salis, as I have two semi-subterranean
beefs with the man that have little to do with his writing. One, he turned
his back on L.A., a city I continue to be borderline besotted with. Two, he
married Helen Knode, a Cornell-educated former columnist for the LA Weekly
who was also an improbably Ross Macdonald-quoting feminist so incendiary
she'd have Wilt Chamberlain crossing his legs -- although the term she
preferred was anarcho-syndicalist -- and for whom I carry a forlorn schoolboy
torch of long standing. But Hollywood's making LA Confidential with Danny
DeVito and Kevin Spacey, so what do I know?

Best,
David

P.S. You were a Jane Doe in El Monte? I certainly hope you're feeling better.