An exciting early novel by James Ellroy, which makes me think I'd l;ike to mread more of his early work in hopes of finding something equally wild. BrAn exciting early novel by James Ellroy, which makes me think I'd l;ike to mread more of his early work in hopes of finding something equally wild. Brown's Requiem is about a private investigator/car repo man who is hired by a caddy named Fat Dog to find out dirt about an innocent man. It appears more and more likely that Fat Dog himself is the villain of the story, which takes us to Ensenada, San Francisco, Palm Springs, and other locales as Fritz Brown attempts to tie all the pieces together....more
An excellent collection of interlocking stories on the general subject of Hollywood in the 1950s. There is a representative sampling of characters whoAn excellent collection of interlocking stories on the general subject of Hollywood in the 1950s. There is a representative sampling of characters who are producers, directors, actors, hangers-on, wannabes, and sons of influential Hollywood types. I am surprised that this book is not better known. Unlike many books about Tinseltown, author Gavin Lambert is something of an insider, famous for writing the story the film Inside Daisy Clover is based on.
I highly recommend The Slide Area as it not only gives an interesting picture of Hollywood, but also of Southern California as a whole. ...more
This is a fictionalized autobiography of the son of a well-known Hollywood actor George O'Brien, who starred in F W Murnau's Sunrise, a number of 1930This is a fictionalized autobiography of the son of a well-known Hollywood actor George O'Brien, who starred in F W Murnau's Sunrise, a number of 1930s Westerns, and a number of small parts in John Ford's later Westerns. What Darcy O'Brien brings to A Way of Life, Like Any Other is a sparkling sense of humor,not to mention a grown-up feeling of forgiveness for one's parents and their foibles.
There are dozens of Hollywood novels, but few with such a light touch as this one. You might say it is the exact opposite of Mommie Dearest and other tell-all assassination jobs by the scions of famous actors. This is a book that will make you smile most of the time, and laugh uproariously in about a dozen places....more
This is a charming book dictated by the blind (from diabetes) John Fante to his wife in the last year of his life. His hero, Arturo Bandini, makes hisThis is a charming book dictated by the blind (from diabetes) John Fante to his wife in the last year of his life. His hero, Arturo Bandini, makes his way to Los Angeles and, after a series of misadventures, winds up as a writer in Hollywood. A writer who has not contributed a word to any script. So Hollywood turned out to be a misadventure as well. The disgusted Bandini returns to his home in Boulder, Colorado, where he suddenly turns into the worst kind of Hollywood name-dropper. He returns to Los Angeles to try again.
Dreams from Bunker Hill is like the obverse of a Horatio Alger story. Yet there are moments that shine out, such as this one:
Then I remembered one of Edgington's axioms: "When stuck, hit the road." At Sunset I wheeled my car out of the parking lot and hit the streets. The city was like a tremendous park, from the foothills to the sea, beautiful in the night, the lamps glowing like white balloons, the streets wide and plentiful and moving off in all directions. It did not matter which way you went, the road always stretched ahead, and you found yourself in strange little towns and neighborhoods, and it was soothing and refreshing, but it did not bring any [script] story ideas.
Of course, in the intervening years, the streets of Los Angeles have become clogged with traffic. Still,on my best days, I feel the same way about L.A....more
Here is a book that does justice to the racial congeries that is Los Angeles. Nina Revoyr's Southland tells of a brutal murder that took place during Here is a book that does justice to the racial congeries that is Los Angeles. Nina Revoyr's Southland tells of a brutal murder that took place during the Watts Riots of 1965 in which four young black boys were locked in the freezer of a grocery store and froze to death. The owner of the store, Frank Sakai, was not in the store at the time, but is deeply moved by the event. It is his granddaughter Jackie who is puzzled by Sakai's will when he dies in 1994. He has left the store to one of the boys who died. Since the store had been sold after the riots, the $38,000 he received for it is in a metal box.
Jackie joins with James Lanier, a young black man who was related to one of the murder victims in finding witnesses to the 30-year-old crime, which they suspect was committed by a racist LAPD officer.
The story moves back and forth between 1939 and 1994, during which time it visits the Japanese internment camp at Manzanar, the Italian battlefield of the 442nd army regiment consisting of Japanese-Americans, the Watts Riots, the Northridge Earthquake, and the Rodney King riots of 1992. In the process, Southland gives a brutally honest picture of race relations during that period -- and ven today, by implication.
I think the book will be thought of as a classic, if it is not already one. ...more
When he died in 1993, L.A. lost its one true poet. Also one of the most honest writers to ever publish. He may have imbibed a railway car full of alcohol in his time and smoked a small forest of cigarettes, but he looked at life with clear eyes:
These Fancy Dan writers are too immersed in their own assholes to know anything of the real populace and what they are attempting to endure. I only chippied with drugs but I can see where a man at total bottom will take two or three hours of blazing light and or peace or dream in exchange for the life he must face forever, doomed like a pig waiting for the blade. He will take those two or three hours in exchange for anything else offered. Damn the price. There is no price.
Before you read this book, however, you should read some of the man's poetry and prose. They are all of a piece, and balm for the roubled soul....more
Dickson Steele was a colonel and an ace pilot in WW2; but after the war he was just another schmo on the make. He needs women, but he distrusts them. Dickson Steele was a colonel and an ace pilot in WW2; but after the war he was just another schmo on the make. He needs women, but he distrusts them. He hooks up with his old wartime pal Brub, finding him to be a homicide detective for the LAPD. Southern California is all abuzz with news of a serial killer who picks up women and strangles them. After a while, we begin to suspect that Dix Steele knows a little too much about these murders.
Dorothy B. Hughes's In a Lonely Place was turned into a film noir in 1950 starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame and directed by Nicholas Ray. The film, however, had a very different ending.
Dorothy B. Hughes has not enjoyed the fame of Chandler, Hammett, or Cain, but she is just about as good as they are. Well done....more
As a novel, Jim Thompson's The Golden Gizmo was pretty good of and by itself -- one never knew who were the good guys, if there were any -- but it wouAs a novel, Jim Thompson's The Golden Gizmo was pretty good of and by itself -- one never knew who were the good guys, if there were any -- but it would have made a great treatment for a film.
Small-time con man Toddy Kent gets in way above his head when he palms a heavy gold watch and returns home to find his wife (apparently) dead. There are a number of baddies, real and potential, and as the reader one never knows where one stands. One even doubts Toddy at times. But then there are chinless Alvarado, Dolores, a strange talking dog, Shake, Donald, and Milt -- any one of whom could have killed Toddy's wife. Well, maybe not the dog, as she appeared to be strangled.
Reading Jim Thompson is one of my guilty pleasures. At best, he is world class. At his work, he's still pretty good. This novel is right in the middle....more
I have found fully half of the books about Los Angeles were written by haters from the East Coast. It is refreshing, on the other hand, to read ReynerI have found fully half of the books about Los Angeles were written by haters from the East Coast. It is refreshing, on the other hand, to read Reyner Banham's Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies, written by a knowledgeable Briton who shows that he knows something about the place beyond the "fertile crescent" from Downtown through Hollywood and Beverly Hills to Santa Monica and Malibu.
Banham not only writes about the four ecologies -- namely the coastal cities, the foothills,the plains, and the connective tissue formed by the freeway network -- but also about the history of architectural styles that have marked LA, from the days of the Spanish to the architects of the 10th century.
I have also read Banham's equally illuminating book on Scenes in America Deserta, which led me to his book on LA architecture.
Well worth reading, unless you are a Southern California hater, in which case, Phooo on You!...more
In 1991, four LA police who were tried for beating up black motorist Rodney King were acquitted, causing a massive riot and city-wide violence. MichaeIn 1991, four LA police who were tried for beating up black motorist Rodney King were acquitted, causing a massive riot and city-wide violence. Michael Connelly's The Black Box begins with Detective Harry Bosch investigating the murder of a female Danish journalist whose bullet-ridden body is discovered by the National Guard in a South Central LA alley. What follows is the usual battle between Bosch and Internal Affairs while Bosch is trying, twenty years later, to find out who killed the journalist.
The initial suspicion is on the Rolling 60s Crips, but then the discovery of the actual weapon shifts the blame in a new direction.
This is another superbly professional job by Connelly in keeping the reader on the edge of his seat and the pages turning....more
This book by travel writer Paul Theroux's younger brother is probably better than most current books about Southern California, though it is riddled wThis book by travel writer Paul Theroux's younger brother is probably better than most current books about Southern California, though it is riddled with errors which would not have been made by someone who was more familiar with the area. Translating LA: A Tour of the Rainbow City makes the usual mistake of concentrating on the crescent-shaped area that runs from downtown to Hollywood to Santa Monica, with the refreshing inclusion of Long Beach.
Peter Theroux should have known that Valencia is not over the border in Ventura County, but it is not a major error. Still, I don't think Peter will gave his brother much competition as a travel book author. ...more
This is not one of Jim Thompson's best novels, but it is interesting. While in the war, Clinton Brown had stepped on a mine that destroyed his sex lifThis is not one of Jim Thompson's best novels, but it is interesting. While in the war, Clinton Brown had stepped on a mine that destroyed his sex life. When The Nothing Man begins, he is working as a newspaper writer for a small California city. He winds up committing a series of murders of women whom he feels put him into a bad situation. He is a close friend of Police Chief Lem Stukey, who is investigating these murders, and delights in throwing a lot of pixie dust his way. I thought the ending was fairly unsatisfactory.
The one character who should have been killed but wasn't was Kay Randall, wife of his editor, who prepares a dish of cold hot dogs with mayonnaise and parsnips for him that made me feel nauseated. Unfortunately, she gets away....more
A continuation of the Chili Palmer saga as begun in Get Shorty. Elmore Leonard in Be Cool does for Los Angeles what he had done in other novels for DeA continuation of the Chili Palmer saga as begun in Get Shorty. Elmore Leonard in Be Cool does for Los Angeles what he had done in other novels for Detroit and Miami. The idea of a loan shark from Miami becoming a movie and record producer is basically a good one.
I probably liked the Chili Palmer films by Barry Sonnenfeld as much as I liked the books, probably even a little more.
Still, there were some interesting bits about the character of Linda Moon which didn't come across in the film, so I'd have to say that book or movie was a pretty close call....more
If dancing meant anything to me, which it doesn't, I would have rated this book at five stars. And that because it was written by Eve Babitz, whose woIf dancing meant anything to me, which it doesn't, I would have rated this book at five stars. And that because it was written by Eve Babitz, whose work I admire. Reading Two by Two: Tango, Two-Step, and the L.A. Night was for me an act of "filling in" the minor works of a favorite author.
No one understands Southern California like Eve Babitz. It has always been such a pleasure to read her after all those slighting and tone deaf books by East Coast writers who come here thinking they are far outside of civilization, in a place where there are no egg creams, whatever the hell those are.
The reason dancing does not appeal to me is that I am almost genetically unable to move in time to the music. Even when I was a little kid, I was known more for treading on the toes of my partners. Skillful dancing is a beauty to behold, but I will never be a part of it....more
Southern California has been through a number of boom and bust cycles, stretching all the way back to the days of Spanish rule. Carey McWilliams's SouSouthern California has been through a number of boom and bust cycles, stretching all the way back to the days of Spanish rule. Carey McWilliams's Southern California: An Island on the Land, written in 1946, tells the whole squalid story of the missions, the massive migrations, the boosterism, Hollywood, the fires, the earthquakes, and so on -- and always in an interesting way.
Having lived in Southern California for over 50 years, I have been blissfully unaware of what makes this place tick. Oh, I knew some of the stories, but McWilliams puts them all together in unforgettable fashion.
If you are thinking of making the trek here yourself, his is an indispensable read before you set foot on your journey....more
Another excellent outing for Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, who are consulting for a defense attorney in a murder case. Curiously, they prove the investigatAnother excellent outing for Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, who are consulting for a defense attorney in a murder case. Curiously, they prove the investigating cops to be innocent of wrongdoing in planting evidence, when suddenly the media-savvy defense attorney, Jonathan Green, turns on the police and Elvis and Joe quit and try to determine what's happened on their own.
Robert Crais's Sunset Express has in Green a truly slimy, reptilian attorney. (Not for nothing does Pike refer to attorneys as lizard people.)
This book sees the relationship with the non-reptilian Louisiana attorney Lucy Chenier develop further. Another excellent read, full of delightful pictures of Los Angeles and its inhabitants....more
I have been a resident in LA since late 1967 and saw all the changes happen. What Brownstein left out almost entirely is the cultural component: the Beats, the Hippies, the Teeny-Boppers, the Freep, the Sunset Strip, and most of Venice and the Valley. The reason for 1974 being a pivotal year is that artists were attracted to the ferment. They did not care a tinker's damn about the awards shows (unless the were in marketing).
To make things worse, the organization of the book is a mess, with each chapter being a month of the calendar -- for no particular reason. Movies, music, television, and politics are all scattered throughout, passim! And altogether too much attention is paid to box office and the business end of the entertainment industries, what with all the cocaine-snorting executives and their dollies.
The fact of the matter is that the culture's effect on the art is critical, irrespective of the Geffens and their ilk. Somehow, the think the word "Industry" belonged in the long subtitle of this book....more
I suppose that Eve Babitz keeps rewriting the same book over and over again. The problem is, I don't mind. It has become such a cultural truism -- espI suppose that Eve Babitz keeps rewriting the same book over and over again. The problem is, I don't mind. It has become such a cultural truism -- especially for those of the Eastern persuasion -- that there is something fundamentally wrong with L.A. I used to buy into that myth, but half a century of living here has made me see different.
L.A. Woman is more fictionalized than Eve's Hollywood, but it's the same basic book. Eve's power is in her positivity:
And I was an L.A. woman. In fact, looking back on those one-night stands, I must have been crazy. Yet there were thousands of girls living between Sunset and Santa Monica in between La Brea and La Cienega who painted the town red like me -- and who got away with it too.
I first arrived in L.A. from Cleveland (yechhhh!) at the tail end of 1966 -- right around the time the place seemed to be really getting interesting. I'm glad I stuck with it, and I'm glad Eve Babitz is there to be its muse....more
Another stellar Harry Bosch novel from Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons tells of the murder of a Chinese liquor store owner in South Central Los AngelesAnother stellar Harry Bosch novel from Michael Connelly, Nine Dragons tells of the murder of a Chinese liquor store owner in South Central Los Angeles. At first, it seems as if the shooting was for non-payment of protection money. Halfway through, however, the book becomes more exciting as Maddie, Harry's daughter living in Hong Kong with her mother Eleanor Wish, is kidnapped.
Harry flies to Hong Kong and shoots down or wounds over a dozen triad and other criminal figures. The trail of blood becomes such that, at points, the story becomes a little unbelievable. As Ecclesiastes 9:11 tells us:
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Still, like all the Connelly books I have read, this one is another page turner. I manage to roar through over 300 pages in about five hours of reading....more
Another immensely enjoyable Elvis Cole/Joe Pike novel. This time, our detectives are after a corrupt elite police unit that has somehow joined forced Another immensely enjoyable Elvis Cole/Joe Pike novel. This time, our detectives are after a corrupt elite police unit that has somehow joined forced with the South Central L.A. gang, the Cripp-affiliated Eight-Deuce Gangster Boys. I don't know how Robert Crais can at one and the same time keep things light and deal with such serious and timely issues as a police conspiracy. Free Fall is the fourth novel in the series and -- so far -- I have read them in order and loved all of them....more
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