Los Angeles Region (Calif.) - Biography; Los Angeles Region (Calif.) - Politics and government; Los Angeles Region (Calif.) - History; Los Angeles Region (Calif.) - Social life and customs
D.J. Waldie discusses his book, “Where We Are Now: Notes From Los Angeles.” He begins by explaining how the book is a compilation of essays on the meaning of place in Los Angeles. He stresses the importance of building community within Los...
African Americans - California - Los Angeles - Intellectual life - 20th century; African American arts - California - Los Angeles - History - 20th century; African American neighborhoods - California - Los Angeles - History - 20th century;...
R.J. Smith discusses his book, “The Great Black Way.” He begins by discussing some of the historical figures that his book explores, such as, Chester Himes who fathered the black detective novel. He explains how in the 1940s when President...
San Francisco (Calif.) - Biography; San Diego (Calif.) - Biography; Inner cities - California - San Diego; African Americans - California - San Diego - Social conditions; African American families - California - San Diego; African Americans -...
Cupcake Brown discusses her book, “A Piece of Cake.” She begins by explaining that the book is a memoir of her life. Her story starts when she was eleven years old and her mother dies unexpectedly. She is then subjected to a series of abusive...
Watts (Los Angeles, Calif.) - History - Juvenile literature; Los Angeles (Calif.) - History - Juvenile literature; Watts (Los Angeles, Calif.) - History; Los Angeles (Calif.) - History
MaryEllen Bell Ray discusses her book, “The City of Watts.” She begins by explaining that this book came from an oral history project on the city of Watts, California. She talks about the history of Watts and how it was a great place to...
Van Nuys (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Social life and customs - Humor; Loh, Sandra Tsing - Homes and haunts - California - Los Angeles; Los Angeles (Calif.) - Social life and customs - Humor; Loh, Sandra Tsing; Van Nuys (Los Angeles, Calif.) -...
Sandra Tsing Loh discusses her book, “ A Year in Van Nuys.” She begins by explaining while this book may seem like an autobiography it is really a combination of fact and fiction. She talks about how people like the voice of an author to be...
Rich people - California - Beverly Hills;
Celebrities - California - Beverly Hills;
Beverly Hills (Calif.) - History;
Beverly Hills (Calif.) - Social conditions;
Beverly Hills (Calif.) - Biography
David Weddle discusses his book, “Among the Mansions of Eden: Tales of Love, Lust, and Land in Beverly Hills.” He begins by explaining that his book is about the history of Beverly Hills and how real estate developers have built a myth...
King, Rodney;
Los Angeles (Calif.). Police Dept;
Riots - California - Los Angeles - History - 20th century;
Racism - California - Los Angeles - History - 20th century;
African Americans - Civil rights - California - Los Angeles - History - 20th...
Lou Cannon discusses his book, “Official Negligence.” He begins the interview by explaining what caused the Watts riots and how the courts ruled against Rodney King. He describes how he was a journalist for the Washington Post and came to Los...
Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Pictorial works; Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Social life and customs; Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Intellectual life - 20th century; Authors, American - 20th century - Biography; Motion picture producers...
Dominick Dunne discusses his book, “The Way We Lived Then.” He explains how the work began as a picture book and later evolved into a book chronicling Dunne’s famous Hollywood parties and social soirees. The collection of photographs,...
San Francisco (Calif.) - Fiction; Married women - Fiction; Murder victims' families - Fiction; San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, Calif., 1906 - Fiction; British - California - San Francisco - Fiction; Women private investigators - California -...
Laurie King discusses her book, “Locked Rooms.” She begins by explaining that the book follows the character of Mary Russell who is married to Sherlock Holmes. In the book, Mary and her husband travel to San Francisco where Mary must claim her...
Golden Gate International Exposition (1939-1940 : San Francisco, Calif.) - Fiction; Women composers - Fiction; Jazz musicians - Fiction; San Francisco (Calif.) - Fiction
Rupert Holmes discusses his book, "Swing: A Mystery." The story takes place in San Francisco circa 1940. All of the locations mentioned in the book were (and are) real locations. The main character is a band leader named Ray. He is involved...
Cohan, Tony - Homes and haunts - California; Cohan, Tony - Childhood and youth; Cohan, Tony - Family; Novelists, American - 20th century - Biography; Terminally ill parents - California; Fathers and sons - California; Hollywood (Los Angeles,...
Tony Cohan discusses his book, “Native State.” He begins by discussing his last book, which was a memoir called “On Mexican Time” and was more of a travel narrative. He then explores his new book and how it is a memoir chronicling his life...
New York (N.Y.) - Fiction; Los Angeles (Calif.) - Fiction; City and town life - Fiction; Brooklyn Dodgers (Baseball team) - Fiction
Heather Woodbury discusses her play, “Tale of 2cities.” She begins by explaining that the play traces the impact of the Dodgers’ 1957 move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. The play is in six acts, which are separated into two parts. The story...
Actresses - Fiction; Older women - Fiction; Motion picture actors and actresses - Fiction; Private investigators - California - Los Angeles - Fiction
Ray Bradbury discusses his book, “Let’s All Kill Constance." He explains that the plot is set in 1960s Los Angeles and follows an unnamed writer who serves as the novel’s narrator. The mystery begins with a visit from an aging Hollywood...
Harriman, Job, 1861-1925;
Llano Colony (Secular community) - History;
Otis, Harrison Gray, 1837-1917;
City planning - California - Los Angeles - History;
Los Angeles (Calif.) - History - 20th century;
Los Angeles (Calif.) - Politics and government
Lionel Rolfe and Paul Greenstein discuss their book, “Bread & Hyacinths.” Rolfe begins by explaining that the book is about the founding of Los Angeles and the rise of the labor movement in the 1880s. He talks about how General Harrison Otis...
Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Fiction; Motion picture industry - Fiction
Gore Vidal discusses his book, “Hollywood.” He begins by explaining that the book opens in 1917 with the birth of the film industry in California. The cast of characters includes such legends as Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Franklin D....
Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Fiction; Police - California - Los Angeles - Fiction
Joseph Wambaugh discusses his book, “Hollywood Station.” He begins by explaining that the book takes place in the present day Los Angles Police Department. The book’s plot follows the officers of Hollywood station as they deal with the...
Jazz - California - Los Angeles - History and criticism; Jazz musicians - California - Los Angeles - Interviews; Central Avenue (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Steven Isoardi discusses the book, “Central Avenue Sounds: Jazz in Los Angeles.” Isoardi says the book covers the period ranging from the 1920s to the 1950s. He describes Central Avenue as the “Los Angeles Harlem” and talks about jazz...
Los Angeles (Calif.) - Social life and customs; Christmas decorations - California - Los Angeles; Christmas - California - Los Angeles; Skinner, George, d. 1978
Georja Skinner discusses her book, “The Christmas House.” She begins by explaining that the book tells the story of her father’s life. Her father, George Skinner, moved from Canada to Santa Monica with his father. When they left Canada he was...
Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Fiction; Motion picture industry - Fiction
Michael Tolkin discusses his novel, “The Return of the Player.” He begins by detailing the plot of his newest novel, which follows the character Griffin Mill, who was introduced in one of his earlier novels, “The Player.” The plot of...
Los Angeles (Calif.) - Fiction; Women detectives - California - Los Angeles - Fiction; Consulting firms - Fiction; Business consultants - Fiction; Sinclair, Tucker (Fictitious character) - Fiction
Patricia Smiley discusses her book, “Cover Your Assets.” She begins by detailing the plot of the novel, which is the second book in the Tucker Sinclair series. Tucker Sinclair is a Los Angeles business consultant who must solve the mysterious...
