Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

I am blogging in real time as I read
Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.” Wolfe is telling the story in “Laura” format with the discovery of the anonymous, butchered body and the narrative proceeding in flashbacks. At this point, Elizabeth Short is in her late teens and living at Camp Cooke, Calif., after an argument with her father.

The two-minute executive summary: We have caught Wolfe in a nasty bit of literary fraud. In order for his story to work, he has to ignore a crucial document in the Los Angeles County district attorney’s files (remember, the title of this book is “The Black Dahlia Files”).
June 1, 1946” and “After June 1, 1946,” demolish
He writes that “little is known about Elizabeth Short’s time in Miami,” despite having access to documents that spell out her actions precisely. He does this because the documents “Movements of Elizabeth Short Prior to
the remainder of his book. On the other hand, he wants to use some of the juicy material in them, so he attributes the information to other documents. The bottom line: Wolfe’s maneuver in quoting from the documents while failing to disclose their existence proves conclusively that this book is deliberately concocted with ruthless disregard of the facts.

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Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

I have my search engines set to scour the Internet for material related to the Black Dahlia and this morning discovered yet another slasher version of the Elizabeth Short case. Think nudity and blood. It is a shame to see such talent wasted, but proves my contention that Hollywood is incapable of telling the story of Elizabeth Short without reducing it to sex and gore.

Where was I? Ah yes. I am blogging in real time as I read Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.” Wolfe is using the “Laura” format in which the anonymous, butchered body is found and the story is told through flashbacks. We’re at the point where we are exploring Elizabeth Short’s mid- to late teens, and have found a particularly nasty bit of fiction in which Wolfe has identified Mary Pacios, author of “Childhood Shadows” as “Mary Hernon.”

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Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

I’m waiting.

The vote so far:

Keep going: 10 (1 via e-mail).

Stop the insanity! 0

Disclaimer: I’m not a Susan Powter fan. In fact, she drives me crazy.

Special note: Comments are moderated. In other words, nothing gets posted without my prior approval. Anything off-point or extraneous isn’t making the cut.

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

I’m blogging in real time as I read Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.”

Page 52

Wolfe is using the “Laura” format and we’re at the point in the story where we learn about Elizabeth Short’s childhood. Wolfe has dispensed with her father, Cleo Short, at least for now, and is dealing with Elizabeth Short’s childhood illnesses. The narrative about the murder investigation has gone into hibernation as the book introduces buckets of background material.

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