Exclusive Ellroy's World Interview
THE COLD SIX THOUSAND
James Ellroy began touring in late June, 2002, in support of the paperback release of The Cold Six Thousand. Announced dates can be found HERE. Full calendar finalized on 6/5/02. James Ellroy reads the opening lines of "The Cold Six Thousand." James Ellroy reads a Dramatis Persona of principal characters from "The Cold Six Thousand." Catch a preview of "Feast of Death." A video roundtable review of "The Cold Six Thousand" broadcast on the BBC's Newsnight. (RealPlayer) Listen to a seven minute excerpt of the audio book version of "The Cold Six Thousand." The sample is taken from the first chapter featuring Ward Littell, scrambling to derail the post-assassination investigation. (Requires RealPlayer. Don't have it? Get Real, for free HERE.) Ellroy European tour interviews (Also requires RealPlayer). An hour with Ellroy (the questions are in French, but Ellroy answers in English). Also requires RealPlayer.
The Cold Six Thousand (CST)" is the sequel to "American Tabloid" and the second volume of "The Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy." Spans Nov. 22, 1963 to June 9, 1968. Previews of volume 3 HERE. "American Tabloid" and "White Jazz," which introduced Pete Bondurant, have been reissued in new formats and cover designs to match that of the U.S. edition of "The Cold Six Thousand." Click on covers to order.
(11/4/02): James Ellroy has been nominated for the richest of literary prizes, the IMPAC Award, for The Cold Six Thousand. You can see our exclusive interview with last year's winner, Alistair MacLeod, HERE. Check out the official IMPAC site for Ellroy's book HERE. (6/15/02) New interviews are starting to come in from the 2002 tour. An article from a recent edition of the Kansas City Star notes that Ellroy's second collection of GQ articles will appear next summer. It also reveals that the author is leaving Kansas City for parts unknown. Read it HERE. Plus, a second article from the Cold Six Thousand tour this one out of Denver. (6/15/02) The paperback edition of the The Cold Six Thousand is now in stores. Ellroy will go on the road in a few days to kick off his tour to support the release. Check HERE to see if he's coming to a bookstore near you. (5/9/02) The official Vintage Books site for the U.S. release of the paperback version of CST is now up. Check it out for (eventual) tour information, etc. (5/5/02) Check out an audio interview with James Ellroy HERE (Scroll down to "authors" and check "E." Requires Real Audio). (1/10/02) Word comes from Reuters of a possible deal between Bruce Willis and HBO to mount a miniseries based on "American Tabloid" and "The Cold Six Thousand." The article breaking that news also alludes to a possible Ellroy talk show....More HERE. (12/7/01) The Sunday edition of The L.A. Times picked its top books of 2001. "The Cold Six Thousand" heads the list under the mystery division. (12/5/01) The U.K. paperback edition of "The Cold Six Thousand" will debut on May 2, 2002. The U.S. paperback will be released in June 2002. (12/5/01) If anyone is still keeping score: Three more reviews of "The Cold Six Thousand." #1, The Sunday Times Review. #2, The NewsReview.Com Review. And, #3, The Bulletin Review. (12/1/01) A recently surfaced (brief) interview with Ellroy conducted as the U.S. "The Cold Six Thousand" tour ground down. For the latest on Ellroy, including the first word on his new Contino novella, check out our new NEWS PAGE. "Dallas, November '63 the heart of the American Dream detonated. "A young cop from Vegas arrives with 6,000 cash, a loathsome job to do, and no idea that he is about to plunge into both the assassination cover-up conspiracy and a five-year ride through the private underbelly of public policy: from Dallas to Vegas, with the Mob and Howard Hughes, south with the Klan and J. Edgar Hoover; shipping out to Vietnam and returning home, the bearer of white powder, plotting new deaths as 1968 approaches... "The 1960s under a blistering lens. The icons of the era mingling with cops, killers, hoods, and provocateurs. Historical confluence as American Nightmare. Fast-paced, fierce, epic fiction. A masterpiece." THE COLD SIX THOUSAND is Ellroys long-awaited sequel to American Tabloid. A chilling blend of fact and fiction, it is an unflinching examination of 1960s America and the three assassinations that rocked the nation. The story picks up where American Tabloid left off Dallas, 11/22/63, the day that John F. Kennedy was shot. Around that event, Ellroy weaves a story of government corruption and mob rule that exposes an America run by cash and weapons. Elected politicians are either on the make or are marked men; the nations economic hub is Las Vegas, with an assist from Los Angeles, Cuba and Vietnam. The major players of the era J. Edgar Hoover, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Howard Hughes are linked by an insidious network of Mafiosos and Klan members. It is a cast of characters riddled with fatal flaws: cops turn criminal; ex-CIA men turn drug traffickers; even Martin Luther King shows a seedy side. America was never innocent, says Ellroy. JFKs death derived from the perennial motives of money and turf. It was a gaudy homicide that set the stage for the out-of-control America that I portray. "James Ellroy's high velocity, bestselling novels have completely redefined noir for our age, propelling us within inches of the dark realities of America's recent history. Now, in The Cold Six Thousand his most ambitious and explosive novel yet he puts the whole of the 1960s under his blistering lens. The result is a work of fierce, epic fiction, a speedball through our most tumultuous time. "It begins in Dallas, November 22, 1963. The heart of the American Dream detonated. "Wayne Tedrow Jr., a young Vegas cop arrives with a loathsome job to do. He's got $6,000 in cash and no idea that he is about to plunge into the cover-up conspiracy already brewing around Kennedy's assassination, no idea that this will mark the beginning of a hellish five-year ride through the private underbelly of public policy. "Ellroy's furiously paced narrative tracks Tedrow's ride: Dallas back to Vegas with the Mob and Howard Hughes, south with the Klan and J. Edgar Hoover, shipping out to Vietnam and returning home, the bearer of white powder, plotting new deaths as 1968 approaches... Tedrow stands as witness as the icons of an iconic era mingle with cops, killers, hoods, and provocateurs. His story is ground zero in Ellroy's stunning vision: historical confluence as American Nightmare. "The Cold Six Thousand is a masterpiece."
Depending on publisher, the novel will run between 650 to 700-plus pages, making this Ellroy's longest novel. The U.S. edition ends the novel on page 672, although a few pages follow that give details about font faces, Ellroy, and so forth. The dustjacket was designed by Chip Kidd and features a photo by Mell Kilpatrick (courtesy of Jennifer Dumas). The book is bound in burgundy boards with "JE" impressed on the cover; the spine is bound in black with silver lettering. The Century (U.K.) first edition comes in at 699 pages in hardcover. The dust jacket features a black and white photo of Las Vegas circa 1960 and is printed on silver foil which is extremely fragile (Collectors will want to Brodart these before handling them). The Century version preceeds its U.S. cousin by several weeks and constitutes the true first edition of "The Cold Six Thousand." (The book was released in France as "American Death Trip" in March, 2001 but it was released in softcovers and in translation and will not, therefore, be targeted by most collectors.) Century first edition printing string looks like this: 13579108642. ISBN: 0-7126-4817-8. Random House AudioBooks has released an unabridged recording of "The Cold Six Thousand" which spans 11 cassettes and retails for $49.95 (ISBN: 0-375-41915-2). Actor Craig Wasson is the reader. Order unabridged book on tape of The Cold Six Thousand. "The Cold Six Thousand" was officially released in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf on May 8, 2001. Copies actually began cropping up in bookstores on Sunday, May 6. Order U.S. hardcover first edition of The Cold Six Thousand. The U.K. edition was released on April 19, 2001. The U.K. hardcover release predated the U.S. edition by several weeks and therefore constitutes the true first English-language edition of Ellroy's book. A documentary about Ellroy entitled, James Ellroy's Feast of Death was broadcast by the BBC to coincide with the release of "The Cold SIx Thousand" there. The documentary was also scheduled to be screened at several Ellroy appearances during his U.S. tour. Order U.K. hardcover edition of The Cold Six Thousand. The French arm of Amazon.com is also offering the edition of "The Cold Six Thousand" released there in March 2001. The book was retitled for French audiences to echo "American Tabloid, and is offered as "American Death Trip." Similarly, volume 3, "Police Gazette," will be retitled "American Madness" for French readers. In Spain, "The Cold Six Thousand" is titled, "Seis De Los Grandes." GQ Magazine presented "a major excerpt" of the novel in its April 2001 (U.S.) issue. Ellroy appeared on "The O'Reilly Factor on FOX News," "60-Minutes II," and granted numerous print interviews to promote his first novel since "American Tabloid." Returning characters include Pete Bondurant, Ward Littell, Howard Hughes, Jimmy Hoffa, Jack Ruby, J. Edgar Hoover and, elliptically, Dick Contino. New to the scene: Sal Mineo, Sirhan Sirhan, Martin Luther King and James Earl Ray. Use of document inserts, conversation transcripts even the same typography bolster a strong sense of superficial continuity between the new novel and its predecessor. That said, the prose style throughout most of "The Cold Six Thousand" is extremely tight: if there is a recent example of the narrative voice which predominates in "The Cold Six Thousand," it is probably most closely represented by "Blood Sport," Ellroy's recent boxing article in GQ, and "Grave Doubts," another recent GQ piece. A character in "The Cold Six Thousand" dubbed "Jean Philippe Mesplede" is reputed to be named after Claude Mesplθde, a well known critic and writer/editor in France. Read Claude Mesplθde's own review of "American Death Trip" HERE. Ellroy described the novel to GQ Magazine this way: "It's really the story of America between the John and Robert Kennedy assassinations. This is the first time that the whole era of the 1960s has been shown from the underside. Reading it you will go to Vietnam and Cuba. You'll join the FBI, see Martin Luther King, Howard Hughes, Lyndon Johnson and the leading gangsters of the day. It's really my magnum opus." An interview with Ellroy appeared in the April edition of Arena, the U.K. Men's Magazine. The piece contained some new Ellroy anecdotes about his "lost years" before sobering up. The author also recalled where he was when he learned of the Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy assassinations (both crimes are central to the new novel). The April (U.S.) edition of GQ contained a preview of the new novel. The April GQ also contained Ellroy's profile of FOX news host Bill O'Reilly. LBJ Library Tour Interview Bookbrows.com Q&A Knight Ridder Profile Wisconsin Tour Profile World Book Dealler Essay Knight Ridder Profile NewCity Chicago Profile The Eye Profile Willamette Week Online Profile Denver Post Profile Post Gazette Profile Rep Profile IREAD Profile National Post Profile People Theory Profile Globe and Mail Profile Chicago Sun Times Profile New York Daily News Profile Book Magazine Profile Miami Herald Profile Houston Chronicle Profile Miami New Times Profile L.A. Off the Wall Profile L.A. Weekly Profile Time Magazine Profile Philadelphia Times Preview Barcelona Review Interview Town On-Line Interview USA Today Chat Boston Herald Contentville Q&A New York Post Column L.A. Times Times Ellroy Profile Scotsman Article on BBC Documentary Empire Online Official Random House Q&A Guardian Interview Guardian Blurb Loafers Guide Telegraph Interview Diario 16 Interview (In Spanish) Ediciσn Impresa (In Spanish) La Vanguardia Digital (In Spanish) FNAC Interview (In Italian) ROUND ONE: Crime Factory Review BookPage Review Sydney Morning Herald Review Village Voice Review Sunday Times Review Amazon.com Review Book Magazine Review Guardian Review Observer Review Scotsman Online Review In These Times Review Scotsman.com Review Times of London Review BBC Newsnight Review Pop Matters Review Financial Times Review Amazon.com Review Barnes & Noble Review Kirkus Review Amazon U.K. Review Amazon.fr Review ROUND TWO: Baltimore Sun Review Washington Post Review USA TODAY Review Books Online Review Entertainment Weekly Review Globe & Mail Review Denver Post Review New York Daily News Review Barcelona Review's Review Time Magazine Review Houston Chronicle Review Cleveland Plain Dealer Review Austin Chronicle Review Newsday Review Detroit Free Press Review Miami Herald Review The National Post Review Salon Review Public Arts Review G21 Review The Boston Globe Review Guardian Blurb The Age Review Calendar Live Review U.S. Random House Official Book Description U.K. Random House Official Book DescriptionThe U.S. first edition print-run of the book totals 100,000 copies. First editions can be easily distinguished, and state "First Edition" under the line "Manufactured in the United States of America." Subsequent editions will say something like "Second printing before (/prior to) publication," or will simply state second, third, etc. edition. The hardcover edition retails for $25.95 in the U.S. and $37.95 in Canada (ISBN: 0-679-40392-2).
Cover design by Chip Kidd.
