Friday, July 28, 2006

The Black Dahlia


The trailer for Brian DePalma's adaption of James Ellroy's The Black Dahlia (which we previously discussed here) is available. It looks pretty cool, though I have to agree with the Fiddler that Josh Hartnett doesn't seem to have a great deal off range ("squinty to squinty" is the way he puts it).

Posted by jwb at 1:00 PM   

5 Comments:

Blogger Bram said:

My mom's a big Ellroy fan, but I never got into his work.

Blood of Victory went back to the library unread, never got to it on vacation. But I am off to another press check at the beginning of September (and continuing to visit Raph and hit the Baltimore Con) and The Company worked out so well for my last trip — long and episodic. Got any recommendations? In exchange, I offer these Bond posters.
at 8:37 PM     

Blogger jwb said:

Hey, Bram.

Ellroy's LA trilogy is brilliant. The Underworld USA books are also good, though I can understand why people might not be into his stacato writing style.

I've heard good things about the latest Daniel Silva book--which I blogged about a few items down. My neighbor Monty liked it--though it's perhaps not as good as some of the earlier ones. I'm going to read it next. However, it's the fith or sixth book in a series.

I like reading about food, cooking, etc., and am almost finished with Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, a brilliant and at times horrifying look at the way that we eat today. If you're open to reading this kind of thing, check it out. (I'm going to do a long post about it at some point.)

If you want to read some more about the CIA--I think I've blogged about this too--check out Charles McCarry's Paul Christopher books--Tears of Autumn is probably the best and is avalable in a new edition from Overlook Press.

Robert Wilson's "A Small Death in Lisbon" deals with similar subject matter to Furst. If you like books with lots of sinister Nazis, this is a good one. (Ditto for his "The Compnay of Strangers.") Wilson is also in the midst of a series of police procedurals set in Spain--"The Blind Man of Seville" and "The Vanished Hands," with another one coming. I'd suggest you start with "Blind Man of Seville."

Philip Kerr has written a lot of books, some good, most not. His "Berlin Noir" trilogy (available under one cover) is amazing--about a homicide detective who's basically a decent guy trying to do his job under the Nazis. (Andy alerted me to Kerr's recent "Hitler's Peace," though it seemed really contrived to me.)

btw, I've read through a few more issues of "Queen and Country." Very cool--though I like the "unclassified" ones a bit better.
at 9:51 AM     

Blogger Bram said:

Oh, geez, I read American Tabloid; I must've managed to block that out until now.

Thanks for the list, I'll hit the library and see what turns up. I noted that Silva book from earlier — do I need to go through that series in order?

I remember hearing that Pollan had a new book out. . . have you read Botany of Desire? That's a favorite and oft-referenced book in this household.

Glad you're enjoying the Q&Cs — the stuff that comes out in Declassified has a way of turning up in the main storyline. In the meantime, you should check out Brick if you get a chance.
at 6:02 PM     

Anonymous Anonymous said:

you guys r geeks my dad was in the cia an he tol me everything i don need to reed books what happun to the kruzer?
at 12:11 AM     

Blogger jwb said:

Very funny, Nick.

I've heard good things about Brick and just added it to our Netflicks q.

The Pollan book is amazing. Check it out.
at 11:35 AM     

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