Another City: Writing from Los Angeles [Paperback]

David L. Ulin (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2001

Stories, chronicles, and poems by both well-established and up-and-coming young writers about how it was to come to LA or what it was like to grow up there, about the ocean and the desert, the entertainment industry and earthquakes, riots and racism, fires and freaks.

Contributors include: Jervey Tervalon, Aimee Bender, Benjamin Weissman, Sesshu Foster, Richard Rayner, Jeffrey McDaniel, Amy Uyematsu, Russell Leong, Aleida Rodríguez, Luis Alfaro, Bia Lowe, Amy Gerstler, and others.

David Ulin has lived in Los Angeles since 1991. From 1993-6 he was the book editor of the LA Weekly. He is currently on the board of the National Book Critics Circle, and writes regularly for the LA Weekly, Chicago Tribune, Newsday, and the Los Angeles Times.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Some 37 poets, essayists, and short-story writers have lent their considerable talents to a collection as diverse as Los Angeles itself. L.A.'s film lots, barrios, boulevards, and beaches merge into a landscape and culture rich, unique, and often true to itself despite its alleged artificiality. For example, Erik Himmelsbach hilariously discusses the fine art of dodging a geeky fellow Jew in the halls of Sepulveda Junior High. In another piece, Lynell George illustrates how the real L.A. is not readily distilled to one or two handy stereotypes about surfer culture but rather is a "loud cacophony" of lifestyles, cultures, and "competing melodies." Ulin, a regular contributor to LA Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, and Newsday and the former books editor for the Los Angeles Reader, nicely adds a number of poets and fiction writers who give voice to the newcomer experience and the dynamics of staying a step ahead of relocation panic and loneliness. Highly recommended. Susan A. Zappia, Paradise Valley Community Coll., Phoenix
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

An Empty Classroom, Lincoln Heights by William Archila
Joseph Speaks To Gericault In The Studio by Michael Datcher
Atwater by Jacqueline De Angelis
Bed And Brimstone by Bart Edelman
Enter The Year Of The Dragon, 2000 by Russell Charles Leong
Train by Ellen Maybe
Dear America by Jeffrey Mcdaniel
Ezzie, Sweating by Cindy Milwe
Anagoge by Aleida Rodriguez
Good Wives Don't Drive by Joan Jobe Smith
Before by Amy Uyematsu
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: City Lights Publishers (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0872863913
• ISBN-13: 978-0872863910
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #363,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David L. Ulin is book critic of the Los Angeles Times. From 2005 to 2010, he was the paper's book editor. He is the author of "The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time" and "The Myth of Solid Ground: Earthquakes, Prediction, and the Fault Line Between Reason and Faith," selected as a best book of 2004 by the Chicago Tribune and the San Francisco Chronicle.

He is also the editor of three anthologies: "Cape Cod Noir," "Another City: Writing from Los Angeles," and the Library of America's "Writing Los Angeles: A Literary Anthology," which won a 2002 California Book Award. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, The Nation, The New York Times Book Review, Bookforum, Black Clock, Columbia Journalism Review, and on National Public Radio's All Things Considered.

He was awarded a 2010 Southern California Independent Booksellers Association/Glenn Goldman Book Award for his work on "Los Angeles: Portrait of a City."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent anthology, October 27, 2001

By 

Steven Kane (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Another City: Writing from Los Angeles (Paperback)

Great selection of great writing. Most pieces are instant classics. Captures the breadth and depth of an area not usually associated with the literary scene (except for hard boiled private eyes.) Nice piece by editor Ulin sets the mood.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enticing read!, September 5, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Another City: Writing from Los Angeles (Paperback)

All the storie is this book are quick, fun & amusing to read. I think everyone who has visited Los Angeles or ones who were raised in "Another City" will agree it's a must read. This book also makes a perfectly fitting gift for those.

1 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A fitting anthology, March 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Another City: Writing from Los Angeles (Paperback)

Like the city itself, these pieces are all over the place; most of them are rather mediocre, but there are a few gems to be found.