Los Angeles Literature
DiskuteraLos Angeles Loves Librarything
Bara medlemmar i LibraryThing kan skriva.
Denna diskussion är för närvarande "vilande"—det sista inlägget är mer än 90 dagar gammalt. Du kan återstarta det genom att svara på inlägget.
1booksmitten Första inlägget
I've lived in LA for about 6 months now, and I always like to get to know a city through the fiction that has been written about it or from within it. Any suggestions on quintessential LA novels? Nonfiction?
3KromesTomes
I haven't actually read this yet, but one of my favorite writers, A.M. Homes, has a book of essays on L.A. called: Los Angeles: People, places and the castle on the hill ...
4sadiegrrrl
booksmitten! have you read dangerous angels by francesca lia block? it's magical realism but i have always really liked it's vision of the city and especially of the canyons...i'll show you at work :D
5kawika
Although not his best work, Clive Barker wrote a Hollywood dark fantasy tale, titled Coldheart Canyon.
I don't know if all the stores have done this, but the Borders on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica has made a local interest section for area guides and things of that nature. If you want just a listing of available restaurants, shops, and places to visit, I highly recommend the Not for Tourists Guide to Los Angeles.
I don't know if all the stores have done this, but the Borders on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica has made a local interest section for area guides and things of that nature. If you want just a listing of available restaurants, shops, and places to visit, I highly recommend the Not for Tourists Guide to Los Angeles.
6beejay
My hands-down favorite in terms of seeing the real LA and how it functions is Holy Land, A Suburban Memoir by D.J. Waldie. It's the history of Lakewood, the prototypical LA suburb of the 1950's and how it has evolved. The obvious shots about suburbal sprawl built by rapacious developers are balanced by a kind of respect for the durability of the dream represented by the town, and the planning concepts employed there that have stood the test of time. It is written in a spare, almost literary style, unlike a textbook or in the boosterish tone so common to books about real estate. And the observations and lessons are easily applicable to any suburban neighborhood in the U.S. that has grown and evolved since WW2.
7gregorymose
Oh, read John Fante. LA in the 30s. Ask the Dust was massacred as a movie, but his writing is mesmerizing and evocative. The John Fante Reader gives a good selection of bits from all his books.
8dpbrewster
Fiction:
Look up books by Lawrence Clark Powell, Charles Bukowski, John Fante, Raymond Chandler, T.C. Boyle, John Rechy, Walter Mosley.
Anthologies:
David Ulin, Writing Los Angeles: A Literary Anthology
Scott Timberg, The Misread City
Non-Fiction:
Reyner Banham, Los Angeles: The Architecture of the Four Ecologies
Jonathan Gold, Counter Intelligence: Where to Eat in the Real Los Angeles
Mike Davis, City of Quartz; Ecology of Fear; Dead Cities
Margaret Leslie Davis, Rivers in the Desert
Victoria Dailey, LA's Early Moderns
Esther McCoy, Five California Architects; The Second Generation
Look up books by Lawrence Clark Powell, Charles Bukowski, John Fante, Raymond Chandler, T.C. Boyle, John Rechy, Walter Mosley.
Anthologies:
David Ulin, Writing Los Angeles: A Literary Anthology
Scott Timberg, The Misread City
Non-Fiction:
Reyner Banham, Los Angeles: The Architecture of the Four Ecologies
Jonathan Gold, Counter Intelligence: Where to Eat in the Real Los Angeles
Mike Davis, City of Quartz; Ecology of Fear; Dead Cities
Margaret Leslie Davis, Rivers in the Desert
Victoria Dailey, LA's Early Moderns
Esther McCoy, Five California Architects; The Second Generation
9WordMaven
Janet Fitch is an LA native, born and bred in the city. *White Oleander* is set in LA and *Paint it Black* is as well. She's definitely a "home girl," and reading her books will give you a feel for the city and its neighborhoods.
Also, there's *Los Angeles Noir* edited by Denise Jackson. Very good collection that is organized by neighborhood where the stories are set.
Also, there's *Los Angeles Noir* edited by Denise Jackson. Very good collection that is organized by neighborhood where the stories are set.