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TranslationPublished Sep 4, 20261 min readSep 4, 2026 · 1 min

A French writer's American pilgrimage lands at James Ellroy's door in Denver

In an extract published by Bibliobs, Sébastien Bonifay describes visiting the crime novelist at home as part of a book chronicling his travels to eight American writers he admires.

A sunlit apartment interior with stacks of crime novels and an old typewriter, evoking a writer's home in Denver.
A sunlit apartment interior with stacks of crime novels and an old typewriter, evoking a writer's home in Denver.

Bibliobs, the literary supplement of Le Nouvel Obs, has published exclusive extracts from "(Not) Born in the USA", a book by Sébastien Bonifay out from Éditions Marchialy. In it, Bonifay recounts a trip across the United States to meet eight writers he holds in high esteem.

Among them is James Ellroy, the American crime novelist, who according to Bibliobs received Bonifay warmly at his apartment in Denver, Colorado. The extract quotes Ellroy telling his visitor that three books exerted an enormous influence on him, though the source material published so far does not name which titles he meant.

For readers who keep track of writers' private libraries and influences, the encounter offers a rare glimpse of Ellroy outside the usual promotional circuit, received not by a journalist covering a new release but by an admirer making a personal literary pilgrimage. No further detail on the book's contents, its length or a publication date beyond what Bibliobs has already run is available from the material at hand.

Sources

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