The Black Dahlia
"On January 15, 1947, the tortured body of a beautiful young woman was found in a vacant lot in Hollywood. Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia, a young Hollywood hopeful, had been brutally murdered. Her murder sparked one of the greatest manhunts in California history. In this fictionalized treatment of a real case, Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard, both LA cops obsessed with the Black Dahlia, journey through the seamy underside of Hollywood to the core of the dead girl's twisted life."
James Ellroy, who also wrote LA Confidential, created a fascinating story of the effects of a brutal murder on those touched by it. The recent movie got terrible reviews, so I decided to go for the audible book instead. The narrator, Bucky Bleichart, becomes obsessed with the Black Dahlia murder, but gradually discovers that his "crime" in covering up some evidence pales next to those of almost all the people around him, including his best friend and partner and his lovers.
I enjoyed the book. Ellroy is great at "noir", and in his world, almost everyone has a black heart . . .
posted by Diane at 4:00 PM
6 Comments:
This is a fantastic mystery. From what I've read about Elizabeth (the victim) she was not really a party girl. She sort of used men for money and dinner but I don't think she really slept around at all. She always carried with her the obit of her fiance who died during WWII and I believe it was buried with her.
Some have speculated the murderer was a woman because of the body being cut in half (too heavy to carry). I doubt that, since the genitalia & breasts were cut and I don't see a woman doing that.
I think it was a guy/psycho she "played" for money but wouldn't put out, and he got his revenge.
The whole black dahlia thing was made up after her death by reporters. She was never called that in life. Nor was she a prostitute as some have said.
I can't wait to see this movie, it looks great.
ffleur - I'm curious to find out how much license Ellroy took with the known facts, i.e., about her, versus the fictionalized police detectives, etc. - - many of the same characters as were featured in LA Confidential are included in this book, like district attorney Ellis Lowe. But the book was an interesting look at the times - the late '40s in LA - the Zoot Suit riots and the post-war boom . . .
I like audible books, especially for long boring car rides. Did you see the book by the guy who claims his father is Elizabeth's killer? It looked kind of interesting.
I just saw the movie and let me just say it is not worth seeing. It is probably 10% fact and 90% fiction. It is total Hollywood Bullshit.
prunella - audible books save me in the car and this book is good as an audible one - it kind of has that old time radio show feel to it- I haven't seen that book - kinda creepy to think your dad committed such a horrible crime!
Pixiegaf - LA Confidential is one of my favorite movies - I'm disappointed they did such a poor job with this one . . .
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