Customer Reviews

Destination: Morgue!: L.A. Tales

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

First off, I am a huge Ellroy fan. I've read all his stuff and honestly regard him of one of our great writers.
However, for whatever reason, he has gone way too far with his use of the language, especially in this book. Alliteration every once in a while is one thing, but lately, especially I would say since American Tabloid, it is starting to make his work unreadable. It seriously gets in the way of the story he is trying to tell.
If you want good, classic Ellroy...read the L.A. Quartet. This later stuff is getting to be a pain to read. Come on James, enough already. (Lee Harrell)

I'm a big James Ellroy fan from way back, but this new collection frankly tried my patience (it just BARELY earned the second of the two stars I'm giving it). The selection of non-fiction pieces (which originally appeared in GQ magazine) is pretty impressive, as the Demon Dog examines Robert Blake, Los Angeles DA Steve Cooley, and the author's own self-proclaimed "Life as a Creep"; on the other hand, the fiction is just dreadful. The Danny Getchell/HUSH-HUSH alliteration/rhyming/wordplay thing is writ large and awful here (it's like Dr. Seuss meets Charles Bukowski, and I DON'T mean that as a compliment), with an unusually large dollop of racism & homophobia that goes far beyond the usual good, dirty, non-PC fun of Ellroy's other books. Seriously - this stuff, especially the trio of novellas under the umbrella title RICK LOVES DONNA, would be unpublished (and unpublishable) if the byline weren't James Ellroy. Worth snagging, I guess, if you're an Ellroy completist like me (and, again, the nonfiction is overall solid), but I'd sure hate for the uninitiated to pick this up and think the fiction represents Ellroy's work. Here's hoping the conclusion of Ellroy's "Underworld USA" Trilogy is an improvement over DESTINATION: MORGUE.

You probably found this book because you're a fan of James Ellroy's classic novels 'L.A.Confidential' and 'The Black Dahlia'. You may even have read his memoir, 'My Dark Places' and were looking for more great noir.

This isn't it.

'Destination: Morgue' was published in 2004, yet it is virtually the same book as his 1999 'Crimewave'. Sure, the stories have different titles, but here again he is covering the same ground about his early days that were discussed in more detail in 'My Dark Places' and the shorter magazine pieces published in 'Crimewave'. The fiction in both 'Crimewave' and 'Destination: Morgue' is also almost identical. Annoying alliterative novellas written from the viewpoint of "Hush Hush" reporter/publisher Danny Getchell. Riffs on the collusion between LAPD Chief Parker & Dragnet's Jack Webb. Novellas from the viewpoint of accordionist Dick Contino.

Although the similarity of the short fiction in both books is annoying, it's Ellroy's apparent enjoyment of debasing himself by continually retelling his years as a peeping tom/speed addict/ petty criminal that is a riff repeated too often. OK, the stories in 'Crimewave' were reprints of Esquire articles that were warm-ups for Ellroy's 'My Dark Places' so can be excused on those grounds. The pieces in 'Destination: Morgue' have no such validity. They seem to exist for the following reasons: (1) Ellroy gets some sort of perverted enjoyment out of exposing what a sleazebag he used to be (2) he made so much money & got so much acclaim for 'My Dark Places' that he keeps returning to the well whenever he needs pocket change (3) he's completely run out of ideas.

Reading Ellroy's early work was exhilirating because the stylistic control dazzled and the plots were so dense that they required a reader's full attention. Reading Ellroy's current work just makes a reader feel dirty, and in need of a bath. If you really feel the need to expose yourself to the psychic filth this book contains, do yourself a favor & get it from the library. I guarantee you that you will feel no need to spend money on this book, further encouraging Ellroy to continue repeating himself.

I'm a huge Ellroy fan, have most of his books. My guess is the publisher put this out to turn a profit, or this was churned out as part of an obligation to a multi-book deal. In any case this is horrible. Get American Tabloid or The Cold Six Thousand instead.

I'm an Ellroy fan of long standing and was thoroughly entertained by Destination Morgue. Never shy about four letter words, or scenes that might make a lesser writer cringe, James Ellroy is that rare one-of-a-kind talent that outshines all others in his chosen genre. This book may not be for everyone. But those who revel in hardcore writing that doesn't pull punches will love it.

I really love James Ellroy's writing and subject matter. He has gotten me interested in old Hollywood movie stars, gangsters and unsolved murders. He has made his obsessions mine, but as several other reviewers have pointed out, his arching overuse of alliteration has gone way beyond self parody at this point. He is like someone making of fun of James Ellroy except that he is James Ellroy. My favorite piece here is the bit on Robert Blake's murder case. For once he is dealing with a b-list celebrity who is alive and a case that was current at the time. I like his childhood stories, although this cat was way more messed up than I could ever have imagined. I actually even like the overkill of alliteration because I think it is hilarious ,although it is not very good writing and he is capable of much better. To give you an example, in "Jungletown Jihad", his hero settles down to sleep with some friendly pit bulls in a shelter-"I shot to the shelter. Pit bulls pounced.A dog daisy chain developed.Donny De Freeze diminuendoed and disappeared. I setlled in for an eight-dog night." The whole thing is written that way. You can choose to be annoyed or amused. I chose the latter but I hope he breaks this trend or it will be very damaging to his reputation as a great writer.

If, like me, you're a fan of James Ellroy, here's the good news: apparently he's at that level of stardom where publishers package up his dross and market it as gold. I was primed to write up a good old-fashioned rant about this book, but just read the other reviews and you'll get the gist pretty quickly. Destination: Morgue is a compilation of half-baked nonfiction pieces (most of which will be old news to anyone who has read My Dark Places) and three truly, embarrassingly awful novellas. And just because they are written badly on purpose doesn't make them any less horrible. On top of the painful prose, Ellroy takes his standard Post-WWII Racist Cop Thug caricatures and plops them in modern L.A. It doesn't work. At all. Like watching a man on a high-wheel bicycle ride in the Tour de France, it's just ridiculous.

If you've never read James Ellroy, I recommend you stay away from this and start anywhere else. And if you have read Ellroy, well, just stay away from this.

Like many other reviewers here, I have to preface this by saying I'm an Ellroy fan. I find his novels fascinating and impeccably researched. Having made that disclaimer though, I cannot recommend reading this collection. It's simply awful. The pieces on Ellroy's past repeat (if somewhat amplify) ground already covered in My Dark Places. The true crime pieces are okay, but just seem to be lacking something. But worst of all, most of the book is written in the alliteration that Ellroy used to reserve pretty much for his Danny "Hush Hush" Getchell character. And as such, the style dominates to the detriment of the narrative. Much of the time, the alliteration obfuscates his ideas so badly that I can't tell what he's talking about. I realize that all of these pieces were written and published separately, so the effect would not have been so cumulative. But man...put them together into a single book and it is simply oppressive. Bottom line: This book is nearly unreadable. Here's hoping Ellroy puts more care into his next novel.

An interesting mix of fiction and true crime. Jamers Ellroy normally writes for GQ magazine, and this book is a mixture of articles/fiction that he has written for them combined with some original material - about half each. His writing style is a bit unsual, a cross between prose and some kind of avant guard poetry. The sentences make sense, even if they are not traditional - well most of the time.

The mixture of non-fiction part of the book is about his growing up in L.A. and about various true crime situations. These include some unsolved murders, the Robert Blake story and more.

There was once a writer named James Ellroy who wrote with style and power, and then something happened ...maybe he's written out, or on medication, but oh my God, this last piece of dreck was enough to send me reeling! What happened to this guy?! "Destination Morgue" is a mindless, crazed rant that offers up nothing in the way of character or story, or anything remotely worth the time it took to turn the pages. He's taking a seat right alongside Woody Allen in the pantheon of "Artist's Who Have Lost Their Ju-Ju." This book flat out sucks! I want my money back, James!
Get well, soon. Please.