The Book Club: James Ellroy on God, drugs and his mother’s murder

In this week’s Book Club podcast, Sam talks to the 'demon dog' of American letters, James Ellroy — whose latest book is This Storm. In a wide-ranging and somewhat NSFW conversation, they talk about misquoting Auden, why Ellroy hates Orson Welles, how he maps out the byzantine plots of his novels, why as a recovering addict he fills his books with pill-poppers and juice heads, why he thinks he's the best crime writer living — and what his dad’s '20-inch wang' had to do with Rita Hayworth.The Book Club, what used to be known as Spectator Books, is a series of literary interviews and discussions on the latest releases in the world of publishing, from poetry through to physics. Presented by Sam Leith, The Spectator's Literary Editor. Hear past episodes here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.