Read L.A.: L.A. on the Page

I OFTEN SHRUG out of being pinned-down on what L.A. books are my favorite. So this list merely represnts books that, to me, nail some aspect of Los Angeles that I find resonant. A few of them I have returned to time and again ("Day of the Locust" "Hope of Heaven.") The titles are nonfiction and fiction. Photography, poetry etc.



Here they are, in no particular order:
Hope of Heaven -- John O'Hara
The White Album -- Joan Didion
What Makes Sammy Run? -- Budd Schulberg
Mildred Pierce -- James M. Cain
Day of the Locust -- Nathaniel West



Devil in a Blue Dress -- Walter Mosley
Dreams from Bunker Hill -- John Fante
Playback -- Raymond Chandler
Chavez Ravine 1949 -- Don Normark
Days Without Weather -- Cecil Brown
The Other Side -- Ruben Martinez
A Single Man -- Christopher Isherwood
Low Down -- A.J. Albany

Out With the Stars -- Jim Heimann
Tapping the Source -- Kem Nunn
The History of Forgetting -- Norman Klein
The Nowhere City -- Alison Lurie
Imagoes -- Wanda Coleman
Days Between Stations -- Steve Erickson
In a Lonely Place -- Dorothy B. Hughes



-- L.G.

Iconic L.A. at Hidden L.A.

LYNN Garrett meant to mention that she had been running a contest over at Hidden L.A. -- the Facebook Page -- that focused on Iconic Los Angeles. You can can navigate over here for a look.

"Iconic" is a tricky word as it does mean many things to many people -- and run it through L.A.'s meat grinder and well, you get, a "creative" spin on the word. Lots of people did try to pick places (or people) who float in our consciousness as L.A. brick and mortar.

I'm one who tends to gravitate toward "sense of place" because,  even with L.A.'s crazy rate of "modernization" and gentrification, the iconic place has a better chance of outliving the "iconic" "celebutant"of the moment.

One place that made Garrett's finalist list was this: the pocket park slipped in a hidden nook in downtown Los Angeles, its close-up, if you recall, was  featured in the film 500 Days of Summer.

-- L.G.