James Ellroy's novels are variations of a well-known model, but they still remain overwhelming as the first time. In The Seduction (Random House), there is the usual landscape, a nocturnal Los Angeles, obsessed with pornography and extortion as in Los Angeles Confidential. Now, the allure in The Seduction lies in the real characters: Freddy Otash, detective/journalist/blackmailer, the most prominent in his profession; Jimmy Hoffa, union leader-mafioso; John Kennedy, famous sex addict; Marilyn Monroe, drug addict...
Ellroy's Marilyn is not the woman from Blonde, but an unconscious one who points her lovers in the agenda next to drawings of their genitals. Her death hides a culprit, yes, but Marilyn is not a saint but rather a player in the blackmail game, one who lost her serve. Ellroy will speak on Friday at the Hay Festival in Seville.
In the last paragraph, Freddy Otash shows a gesture of kindness. Is he the only one in the novel?
No, he is not. In fact, Freddy is kind all the time even though we see him doing dreadful things, like killing and blackmailing. That's why he is paid $50,000 and gives it to a dying woman. The real Freddy was a very religious Maronite Lebanese. He crossed himself all the time. This is a Christian novel. I am also a Christian.
What do you like about this book?
From the beginning, I knew it had something no one else had, something no one had written before about the Kennedys or Marilyn. I always knew I had the unique information and approach to drop a bomb. And I did, I achieved that. I have painted a portrait of Marilyn Monroe that no one had done before. Stupid, superficial, perverted, tormented in the worst sense, manipulative... She used others.
The classic idea of Marilyn didn't interest me much, but when I saw The Misfits, I saw an image of innocent and touching kindness.
That movie is garbage, a farce. I admire John Huston, but everything is wrong in The Misfits: Arthur Miller's story is trash, Montgomery Clift and Marilyn Monroe's roles too. The only one done right is Eli Wallach.
The pilot?
Yes. The only one.
But Marilyn still moves and remains in people's memory.
I don't know why. I don't care. People are foolish and easily deceived. People settle. It's an instinct. We are told that Marilyn was a natural victim and was abused. It's easy to think, "Well, it must be true."
Are you talking about the drugs in this novel?
Amphetamines give a huge energy boost, making their users feel invincible. The 60s truly began with amphetamines. John F. Kennedy was a drug addict. He didn't just take amphetamines.
He took sedatives, right?
Well, that's the acceptable version. He took drugs for pain and because he liked it. People took amphetamines because they felt it gave them power.
Would you compare the effect of amphetamines in the 60s to opioids in 2025?
I prefer not to talk about current times.
And sexuality? No one makes love with joy and sweetness in your books. Fred may be in love but fears the kindness of love and sex.
He is afraid to consummate, yes. I'm not interested in writing sex scenes. I'm a prudish puritan.
What I know about Puritans is hearsay.
The Puritans were a Protestant sect in England whose members emigrated to the United States. The important thing is that I agree with their moral code. I believe there is much sin and sex in the world. I believe in original sin.
How does the idea of original sin condition you?
We are sinners, we are a fallen race. Look at the world, it's a tragic place. Sin prevails. Justice is defeated more often than it prevails, love perishes more than it triumphs. We want to live in utopia, but the only utopia is heaven.
Probably the world is tragic, but many people are also good, and deep down, we all function believing in their good faith.
Yes, of course, there are many good people. I also believe that, but what interests me is sin and its ramifications. I am interested in renouncing sin and redemption. Helen Knode was my second and third wife and is my current girlfriend, and she is the brightest woman I know. She says that redemption had never been so present in any of my books.
From that puritanical perspective, can the idealistic promise of politicians like the Kennedy brothers only be false?
Yes. Well, I have a good opinion of Robert Kennedy. He never slept with Marilyn, never cheated on his wife.
Are you interested in David Lynch? I think maybe your works could be complementary.
I haven't seen any of his movies.
Did you decide not to watch them? It's not easy not to have seen anything by Lynch.
No. I thought they were movies I wouldn't like when they came out.
Are you a very introspective writer? I understand that you don't need other art to feed on ideas and images.
I love jazz and classical music, and I feel they enrich me as an artist. I like modern and late romantic composers. I like Beethoven, especially. But I don't think of my books as something musical.