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James Ellroy - Crime Writer

Stephen Sackur talks to James Ellroy whose novels are a nightmare vision of crazed killers and corrupt cops. His mother was murdered, so is this the key to understanding his work?

Hardtalk speaks to the man who has been called 'America’s greatest living crime writer'. Through works such as the Black Dalia and LA Confidential, James Ellroy has created a uniquely dark portrait of America. His is a nightmare vision of crazed killers and corrupt cops. He writes of what he knows – his own mother was murdered when he was a child. So is that simple, terrible fact the key to understanding all the words he has ever written?

(Photo: James Ellroy. Credit: Ulf Andersen/Getty Images)

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23 minutes

Last on

Fri 14 Aug 2015 21:06GMT

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  • Fri 14 Aug 2015 02:06GMT
  • Fri 14 Aug 2015 03:06GMT
  • Fri 14 Aug 2015 04:06GMT
  • Fri 14 Aug 2015 05:06GMT
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  • Fri 14 Aug 2015 12:06GMT
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  • Fri 14 Aug 2015 16:06GMT
  • Fri 14 Aug 2015 21:06GMT

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