Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Los Angeles [Paperback]

Jeff Spurrier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 29, 2001 | Series: Irreverent Guides

Looking for a travel guide that goes where other guides fear to tread? One that rides roughshod over ad-copy puffery to smartly deliver the real scoop on a destination's sites and attractions? One that dares to be honest, hip, and fun? Look no more. Frommer's Irreverent Travel Guides are wickedly irreverent, unabashedly honest, and downright hilarious, and provide an insider's perspective on which attractions are overrated tourist traps and which are the secret gems that locals love. You'll get the lowdown on restaurants, lodging, and shopping, and even find out what the locals think of you. Like being taken around by a savvy local," said the New York Times. "Hipper and savvier than other guides," concurred Diversion magazine. Never shy about confronting the issues, the Irreverents are guides to real travel in the real world.

The big, sprawling Technicolor dreamscape that is Los Angeles is riotously X-rayed in Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Los Angeles, a fresh, funny insider's guide to savvy travel in the City of Angels. You'll discover how to order a Jayburger like a native (hold the chili and put an egg on top), get tipped to swinging spots for the new rat pack, and learn where to stay if you're determined to score on the Hip-O-Meter. Learn which movie tours are overrated, who to know to get into Spago, and where to get that special someone a beach towel with a chalk outline of a body (the L.A. County morgue gift shop). Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Los Angeles is the kind of hip, discriminating guidebook Los Angeles deserves."

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"Little fluff and lots of fun." —Boston Globe "Hipper and savvier than other guides." —Diversion magazine Are you tired of cliché-ridden guidebooks packed with promotional fluff? Then move over to the Irreverent Guides—the travel series that no tourist board would dare.to recommend. Look inside for the lowdown on:

• How to survive a smog alert
• Where to stay in Catalina and pretend you're a 1920s millionaire
• Why Tail O' the Pup is the city's most significant architectural statement
• Beaming up to the Star Trek bridge at Lax
• Where to catch the Groundlings—the improv group that launched the careers of Jon Lovitz, Lisa Kudrow, Will Ferrell, and Phil Hartman
• And much more!

Your Guide to a World of Travel Experience Great trips begin at Frommers.com

About the Author

Jeff Spurrier is a writer, based in L.A., who lives part of the year in Mexico. He writes for Details, Outside, and the L.A. Times. He is a carnivore, a reluctant smoker, and knows the quickest way to get from the West Side to Downtown during rush hour.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Frommers; 2 edition (October 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764564978
• ISBN-13: 978-0764564970
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 4.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,448,733 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great travel guide with attitude., May 30, 2001

By 

mirope "mirope" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Los Angeles (Irreverent Guides) (Paperback)

This is not your typical travel guide. In fact, it's more like a mini sociological study of LA with great tips on where to watch the natives in their local habitat. LA isn't so much a city as it is a collection of neighborhoods, and author Jeff Spurrier does a great job of describing how this all works. The book is a handy size for carrying along, so you can take advantage of the manuy great maps as you tour the area. Spurrier warns you again and again that the only way to really get around LA is by car, but he does offer alternatives for those intimidated by the freeways and/or parking dilemma. His selection of hotels and restaurants is broad - everything from Beverly Hills luxury to places with lots of attitude but not much polish. In many ways, the rest of the book is an ideal primer for anyone moving to LA or planning to spend lots of time there. Not only will you find a carefully selected list of recreational options, but you will also get helpful hints on when to go and how to get there. There is a great section on what to do - and not to do - with children, but there is no mention of Disneyland. Indicative, I think, of how this book is a true insider's guide to the city, not just a promotion for tourisim.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great even for natives!, January 2, 2002

By 

Michael A. Casey "Television Freak" (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Los Angeles (Irreverent Guides) (Paperback)

As an LA native, I must say that this book is right on the money. Although I'd have to disagree when the author refers to "the city" as consisting only of Downtown (any true native knows that "the city" is Mulholland to the 10, and Downtown to the beach!), everything else is just perfect. I learned things that even my 26 years of exploring never showed me. It's a great book for travellers, especially those who have never been and don't have friends here (it is truly difficult to navigate the SIZE of Los Angeles without a guide!) . But it's also a great book for those of us who have lived here all of our lives!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars rude, snide & not vey useful, February 25, 2005

By 

dafilmmaker (los angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Los Angeles (Paperback)

What an awful book! I first bought the "Irreverent Guide to Rome" and my husband & I loved it. (He lived in Rome for 6 years & said the description were dead-on accurate). So I decided to buy the book for LA, my home town. What a mistake! Unlike the witty, cultured, perceptive guide to Rome, this book is unfunny, rude, snide, classist, name-dropping, & way off the mark. The lovely, funky, beach community of Venice is slammed for having "weirdos, bums and scum." A popular Indian restaurant is described as being good, but "hold the cholera, please." Not funny! Luckily, I also bought Lonely Planet: Los Angeles, which was much, much better.