maxhimelhoch's review
5.0
my god i love la. so many important and insightful stories woven together. Much like the city itself, as Baldwin notes, it feels historic and contemporary at the same time.
halotuewelina's review against another edition
2.0
Rozczarowanko ☹️ Według mnie to jedna z słabszych książek wydanych w ramach serii amerykańskiej.
mrbusse's review
4.0
This was really thoroughly researched, wide-ranging, and easy to read. The structure of the book was inventive, and I love how the author seamlessly incorporated a lot of relevant quotes from other literary works in a way that was reminiscent of a cento. I learned a lot, despite having lived in LA for a decade.
Although I was hooked on the stories -- particularly the bits about the cults and the natural disasters -- the author's central binding idea (that of a City-State) is really underconceptualized. He struggles to make a compelling argument that LA is fundamentally different than other major cities in the US or around the world, aside from quoting a bunch of people simply saying that it is.
Although I was hooked on the stories -- particularly the bits about the cults and the natural disasters -- the author's central binding idea (that of a City-State) is really underconceptualized. He struggles to make a compelling argument that LA is fundamentally different than other major cities in the US or around the world, aside from quoting a bunch of people simply saying that it is.
peterme's review
4.0
(3.5 stars)
Curious text. No one book will capture "Los Angeles." This one rests on the idea that L.A. is a "city-state," a quasi-independent domain. It traffics (ha!) in expected themes from a self-aware 2020s-era empathetic writer—inequality, racism, climate crisis, etc. You do wonder why so many people would live in L.A., given how miserable he makes the place seem.
Curious text. No one book will capture "Los Angeles." This one rests on the idea that L.A. is a "city-state," a quasi-independent domain. It traffics (ha!) in expected themes from a self-aware 2020s-era empathetic writer—inequality, racism, climate crisis, etc. You do wonder why so many people would live in L.A., given how miserable he makes the place seem.
marbo's review
3.5
Not my fav.
But I enjoyed certain parts more than others. Particularly, I thought that the essays about the entertainment industry & natural disasters were the strongest, because there felt like there was a sense of both lived experience and personal stake for the author in both essays if that makes sense.
The problem with this book is that the majority of it is trying to document things that it seems the writer has no personal connection to - I admire his desire to document and platform the words of poc who are actually from Los Angeles but the whole thing comes off as very voyeuristic. I felt the same way about The Jakarta Method (which i ended up liking), which is that I felt frustrated that the stories of people who had actually experienced these things were being told by white male writers who then profited off of the books sales. I have no way to find out whether or not their subjects were paid or how these writers spend their money. Which I hate. At the same time, because the publishing industry so rarely platforms writers who aren’t male & white, would these stories get published at all if not for the white male writers in question? Idk
Beyond that I didn’t loooove his writing style in general, not super my vibe.
But I enjoyed certain parts more than others. Particularly, I thought that the essays about the entertainment industry & natural disasters were the strongest, because there felt like there was a sense of both lived experience and personal stake for the author in both essays if that makes sense.
The problem with this book is that the majority of it is trying to document things that it seems the writer has no personal connection to - I admire his desire to document and platform the words of poc who are actually from Los Angeles but the whole thing comes off as very voyeuristic. I felt the same way about The Jakarta Method (which i ended up liking), which is that I felt frustrated that the stories of people who had actually experienced these things were being told by white male writers who then profited off of the books sales. I have no way to find out whether or not their subjects were paid or how these writers spend their money. Which I hate. At the same time, because the publishing industry so rarely platforms writers who aren’t male & white, would these stories get published at all if not for the white male writers in question? Idk
Beyond that I didn’t loooove his writing style in general, not super my vibe.