Welcome to Litsy!

Wow, this book was terrific! I enjoyed the way he alternated the chapters featuring Mulholland, Griffith, and MacPherson. Truly encapsulates the astonishing origins of our highly improbable metropolis (as Dorothy Parker called it, “72 suburbs in search of a city”). Learned a lot about the 1920s and some historical figures that I knew the vague arcs of, but not the details. Highly recommend!
#nonfiction #history #usa

An excellent history of Los Angeles. I can‘t believe how much I learned, and written so well, I couldn‘t put it down. A must read!

Book mail! My favorite😍

I also enjoyed Krist‘s books about Chicago and New Orleans, and this one is no exception. He does an excellent job writing “biographies” of major American cities! #howjessreadsin2019

I live in Los Angeles and love learning about its history. I also love movies and classic Hollywood and this book covers a lot of that. I found that the book, paired with the You Must Remember This podcast, was a fantastic combo. I went back and re-listened to episodes dealing with the classic stars mentioned in the book and it really added a whole other level to the experience.

Hopefully a fitting post for #SunnySunday! Here‘s a mini-collection of books that is organically growing on my shelf about one of the sunniest cities, LA.

The books are :
1. Dead Girls - Alice Bolin
2. Dear Los Angeles - Ed. David Kipen
3. Mirage Factory - Gary Krist
4. Black Dahlia, Red Rose - Piu Eatwell

Yikes, despite lots of sun some of these titles are dark!

#ANewChapter

This was a well written history about Los Angeles in the years 1900-1930. It hinges the development of LA into the inkling of the city we know it as today on three key people. DW Griffith, William Mulholland and Aimee Semple McPherson.

Despite technically being a “history” book, its fast paced writing style kept me wanting to read more. I appreciate LA more as a city and appreciate why LA has Mulholland Drive.

This is a very good history of the city of Los Angeles. Krist uses three historical figures to highlight how LA grew from a small town into the sprawling megalopolis it is today. Water wars, the movie biz, and evangelical religion all put the spotlight on Los Angeles and Southern California. Quite enjoyable and informative.