Exquisite Corpse: Surrealism and the Black Dahlia Murder Hardcover – Bargain Price, September 18, 2006

Fascinating book! There were more crime scene photos than I was expecting to see, but I was pleasantly surprised by the in-depth analysis of possible murder suspects. Several theories were explored, and the authors feel that George Hodel was the most likely suspect. I'd recommend reading "Black Dahlia Avenger" if you haven't already. Steve Hodel really lays out the entire case piece by piece to show why Dr. Hodel could have been the murderer. I believe that there was a connection between how Elizabeth Short was posed and someone deeply into the surrealist art movement. Dr. Hodel had connections with the surrealist community. This book provided a lot of examples of similarities between works of art and Elizabeth Short's corpse. I hadn't realized that the Minotaur theme was so prominent in the surrealist art movement. The bisected female form shows up repeatedly as well. Some of the comparisons of artwork to the the crime scene are a bit of a stretch, but most are convincing. The author also theorizes that members of the surrealist art community knew who committed the murder and left clues in their work. The title refers to a game played where a paper was folded into thirds and different artists completed a doodle without being able to see the others drawing. The book itself is great quality. It is larger than the typical hardback novel and the pages are very thick. I (almost) want to call it a "coffee table book", but I don't think you'll want all your guests flipping through this.

Fascinating and beautifully researched and illustrated. If you are an art history buff and/or Black Dahlia buff: you need this book. I read it after I read Black Dahlia Avenger, and it was a perfect companion text with a lot more factual information (less speculation, that is) and primary and secondary sources.

KUDOS TO MARK AND SARAH. As relates to the Nelson/Bayliss EXQUISITE CORPSE: SURREALISM AND THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, I would like to add my heartfelt appreciation and high praise for their outstanding research, dedication and documentation. I believe their independent and academic investigation, adds mountains of evidence to my original lay/foundational thesis that suggested surrealism and its art were the key to the DAHLIA crime signatures. Mark Nelson and Sarah Hudson Bayliss have connected the dots and the people and presented them for all of us to see. They have taken the long silent voices of those who knew (or suspected) and by holding up their works (riddles wrapped in mysteries)--HAVE MADE THEM SPEAK!Steve HodelLos Angeles

When reading about this book on the "Black Dahlia" murder case I was at first slightly weary as title and subject direction smelled of exploitation. The concept, though, seemed interesting and so I went for a purchase and must at least revise my misgivings.It is certainly no contribution to a very belated solution of the case, which would be impossible anyway as most of the people directly involved (and in all likelihood the killer(s) himself) are dead by now, and to the authors' credit it must be said that there is no intention in that direction either, even though the inspiration had apparently come from Steve Hodel's "The Black Dahlia Avenger".As a fleshing out of a point not obvious to most researchers of the case it does add considerable color to the already dapper Los Angeles of the 1940s. It is positively uncanny how much the vatious disfigured female forms of the surrealist artworks presage or echo the positioning and mutilations of Elisabeth Short's body. The attention to detailed arrangement that the major surrealists employed in their images or sculptures ist so meticulously reflected by it that it cannot at all be discounted that an artist whose blurring of sur- and realism got a little too strong may be implicated. Not the spearheads who by dint of their well-recorded travels have solid alibis, but someone at the periphery.Like George Hodel, who, as a Los Angeles socialite and art lover, was well acquainted with many surrealists and their propagators. Add to that the fact that his career came to an abrupt end through an incest case and some anything but favorable comments by former employees of his and one may consider re-reading "The Black Dahlia Avenger".In the end, the all-ecompassing circumstantialism does not get the "Dahliologist" any closer to the truth, but as an added viewpoint "Exquisite Corpse" (titled after a "game" invented by surrealists) is certainly worthwhile for collectors of "Dahlia"-ephemera, always bearing in mind the limitations it has regarding investigative facts as well as in relation to the history of surrealism, the perspective on which must needs be very selective. It does make a nice coffee-table book, albeit only for the stong of stomach as the photographs included (some exclusively published here) do not veil the gruesome reality of the case.

I've always been fascinated with the Elizabeth Short murder, aka The Black Dahlia. I read Steve Hodel's book, The Black Dahlia Avenger, and felt as if the murder had finally been solved. His connection of his father's love of surrealistic art and the posing of Miss Short's body was an interesting theory to me. When I read Exquisite Corpse, this theory became more valid in my mind. The authors have presented many examples of corresponding items between various artworks and the murder, so much so that it seems difficult to not believe Mr. Hodel's father was the murderer of the Black Dahlia. If you only read the book for a better understanding of this art genre, it is worth it. I'll never look at surrealism again without the shiver of chill bumps.

Bravo. I can't imagine anyone having approached this topic any better than these two have. Much of what Steve Hodel is discovering these days, only serves to corroborate what these authors present here. If you're at all interested in the fate of Elizabeth Short - the "Black Dahlia" - you must add this book to your 'reading' list. It'll lend far greater understanding into the totally unnecessary and horrific killing of this almost transient young woman.