Articles tagged with books

L.A. is a profoundly Latin American city, with countless historical and cultural ties to the Spanish-speaking world. Those ties include a common language. Spanish is spoken by over 40 percent of L.A. residents, making it the second-most spoken language in L.A. after English.
Remember, even saying the words “Los Angeles” (or if you want to get fancy and historical about it, El Pueblo de Nuestra …

Jury duty. The jury in the Bell corruption trial isn’t done yet. Judge Kathleen Kennedy has instructed the panel to return to court this morning and jurors could be forced to continue deliberating on dozens of charges that remain unresolved. Five of six former city council members were found guilty yesterday of stealing from the working class city. But the jury also acquitted them …

KCRW’s Kim Masters recently sat down with author Lawrence Wright to talk about his new book Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief.  He described the leader of the church, L. Ron Hubbard, this way:
“He was a spellbinding character, he had a special talent for bringing young people in particular under his spell. And you know, they had a narrative of his own life, …

 We asked eleven of our sharpest local observers what they thought were the most important stories and trends of the year. From politics and music to faith, literature and film, they weigh in on the one thing that shaped 2012
Author Hector Tobar reflects on the books that made an impact on him in 2012. One is a story of war, and the other is …

One of Los Angeles’ cultural exports has been its crime fiction, and the latest to wear the Raymond Chandler mantle is Michael Connelly, writer of 25 best-selling novels, 18 of them featuring his tenacious homicide detective Hieronymous (Harry) Bosch. Now Connelly has published his latest book, The Black Box, which takes Bosch back to the LA riots in 1992.
Below, Michael Connelly talks to Warren Olney …

Gore Vidal author and playwright died Tuesday at his Hollywood Hills home from complications due to pneumonia. Bookworm host Michael Silverblatt writes:
When I learned of the death of Gore Vidal last night, the painful memories that flooded me were immediate, but there was also the memory of affection and humor. I saw myself twenty years ago, a frantic and terrified young interviewer pacing awkwardly in …

It’s summer in Los Angeles. And while some might be excited about the L.A. Film Festival or hitting the beach, many are just eager to have some extra time to read a good book. At least many of our readers are. We got  summer reading recommendations from indie book store owners, and several readers posted suggestions of books old and new on our Facebook page …

Ray Bradbury died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 91. The science fiction author, known for “The Martian Chronicles,” “Fahrenheit 451″ and “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” wrote  a thousand words a day and published late into his life, authoring more than 27 novels and collections, and more than 600 short stories. The New York Times writes:
In 1934 the family moved to Los Angeles, …

School’s out, the sun is shining, and you need that perfect book to take to the beach. KCRW talked to indie bookstore owners around Los Angeles about some of their favorites for this summer. If you’re looking for some inspiration, visit one of the stores, which we’ve mapped for you below.
Alison Reede of Diesel Books recommended “A Sense of Direction: Pilgrimage for the Restless …

Hollywood Boulevard. Venice Beach. Disney Hall. The La Brea Tar Pits. Universal Studios. Rodeo Drive. What do they all have in common? They’re, of course, all popular local tourist destinations that always get star billing in guide books about L.A.
But there’s a new Southern California guide book out that takes you to places way off the beaten path and introduces you to little known …

Los Angeles is often denigrated as shallow and superficial, despite its long history of great literary accomplishments. The city has produced Raymond Chandler, Joan Didion, Charles Bukowski, Walter Mosley, and countless others. It’s also the biggest book  market in North America.
So, readers of Los Angeles, rejoice! Some local bibliophiles have produced a new 18″ x 24″ fold-out map that includes all of the literary …

Monday, we debuted a new contributor on All Things Considered: Tom Lutz, editor and founder of the Los Angeles Review of Books. He’s also an author in his own right, and an instructor of writing at UC-Riverside, which has incubated this new, digital project (as newspapers cut back on their reviews of books, Lutz figured, why not create a new way to spotlight the …

Twice a year, we all get whacked out with the shift of an hour as the springing forward and falling back brings daylight saving time gives you a low-grade dose of jetlag. As you adjust to this new pre-equinox springtime change (legislated by Congress), consider that it hasn’t always been this way. For a great treatise on this subject, check out NPR Cosmos and …

Writer and former KCRW contributor Barbara Kraft of Studio City experienced a double whammy of literary encounters most of us can only dream about: She met and worked with Anaïs Nin at her home in Silver Lake in the last years of the author’s life.  (Though she wasn’t aware at the time of the author’s infamous bigamy.)
A few years after Nin’s death, Kraft met …

Limes regiones rerun, or ”reality ends here.” That’s the Latin text that hangs over the entrance to the USC School of Cinematic Arts, the oldest and most and one of the most prestigious film schools in the United States. For years, journalist Steve Boman dreamed of enrolling in the USC film program, but it wasn’t until he was when he was 39 years old with …