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The Hilliker Curse: My Pursuit Of Women (2010)

by James Ellroy(Favorite Author)

3.14 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0307593509 (ISBN13: 9780307593504)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Knopf Publishing Group

review 1: Another one of those "three and a half stars" books. I'm a fan of Ellroy and enjoyed the writing and "tidbits" about women. Length wise I couldn't see this book being any longer...I'm curious now to see about his current state with women since this book came out in 2010. The book itself was a "memoir" of sorts, it also at times read like a confessional, however, it never in my opinion veered into "poor me" territory or felt that Ellroy was just bitching about his life (granted he went through a lot of stuff and did some stuff, but he's also a multi-millionaire, hard to feel too sorry for)...Some of the lines/passages were "wow" and could've only been written by Ellroy. As with Crime Beat this was another book I'm glad I picked up on the cheap, it was a fast/good read, ... morebut I would have been kicking myself if I paid the jacket price (I think around $26.00). I also enjoyed the times he talked about his novels, it offered some interesting "tidbits," and is driving me to re-read American Tabloid, Black Dahlia, etc.
review 2: I confess to being a huge fan of Ellroy's work. I think his LA Quartet is a masterpiece of style and scope. I also enjoyed the later trilogy, even though his writing style has become more mannered and forced. That said, I found this memoir to be a really tough slog. Much has been written about his mother being murdered when Ellroy was a young boy, but to read Ellroy's recollection of it and his subsequent Oedipal pursuit of the perfect life companion, written in that staccato, alliterative, bludgeoning style he has developed is a pursuit that should only be undertaken by Ellroy junkies. If you are only a casual fan of his work, put this book down and grab something else. less

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