James Ellroy has some advice. This is it: “Observe the civil contract. Don’t drink, smoke or do drugs. Address everyone as Mr. and Mrs. I’ll pay you to have your tattoos removed. Don’t say dumb shit like ‘like, it’s like, whatever.’ Don’t read movie reviews. Go see the movie and decide for yourself. Be respectful. The quickest way to sound like a dipshit is to call a respected filmmaker you don’t personally know Marty.” This was just one of the marvelously frank and dead-on pieces of wisdom imparted by the self-identified “demon dog of American literature” at a reading and interview held last night at the New York Public Library and hosted by the Young Lions.