Customer Reviews

Los Angeles Attractions

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The world has been waiting a long time for a good guide to Los Angeles that shows what the city has to offer and why its citizens love it so much. This book is it. Most other Los Angeles guides are written by authors on the east coast or the bay area and seem mostly apologetic, and at best reluctant, at having to write a guide for a city they never have liked or understood; but feel obligated because of the insatiable demand of people wanting to visit the city. This guide is the only one you will need. FINALLY!

Like any good cultural history buff, I have a whole shelf filled with guides to the Los Angeles area that have helped acquaint myself with my new home. Stanic's Los Angeles Attractions surpasses them all to a level that is frankly, amazing. No other guide book on the area is as comprehensive, engaging and well curated. The book features everything you want in a guide--text that is easy to read, interesting quotes, vivid photography as well as all the compulsory information on everything from LA theaters to museums to architecture. The added bonus? Topics that aren't always covered and just the right amount of esoterica to heighten the experience to memorable and fascinating.

If you like the visual and organizational style of DK Publishing's EyeWitness series, a wide range of topics and thorough information on the area, you'll agree that this book a must-have for residents and visitors alike. You won't regret this purchase!

The obvious comparison this book brings to mind is with "An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles" by Robert Winter and (the late) David Gebhard, which (through several editions) has been a favorite of mine. (I doubt it will be updated again.) But that is a more architecture-focused book, and this one is somewhat broader, though it has more architecture than anything else. (As it happens, both books have similar views of the Disney Concert Hall on the cover.)

Winter and Gebhard include a lot more buildings, and are more insightful and critical, while Stanic is simply descriptive. But Winter and Gebhard's book is really designed for touring neighborhoods, while Stanic's is more a guide for someone with some time to hit the highlights around LA. (And the book does cover the county, not just the city.)

I think this would be a good book for someone planning a trip to the LA area, or someone living in the area who has never really gotten out and seen it. For someone who knows the area well, there won't be much new.

Los Angeles has so much to offer that it is frighteningly easy to miss a lot of it. "Los Angeles Attractions" is a guide to experiencing Los Angeles in the best way possible for one's interests. The Mecca of Entertainment, Los Angeles has so much to see, ranging from famous film studios, homes, and film sets, to less entertainment driven attraction such as some of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright's best work. Including listings of some of the best beaches, lodgings, and restaurants available, "Los Angeles Attractions" is something the Los Angeles traveler cannot be without.

Whether or not you've been to L.A. myriad times, as I have - or whether you've never been there - this book is *superb*! It's not the typical tourist guide, although many of the places described in the book might be familiar to you. The selection of pictures - including those of architecture and art, old and more recent - is *outstanding*. Another area where the book "shines" is in its description of each sight and its overall history; it's quite informative and actually rather fascinating. This is the best "tourist guide" I've ever read (and it's also probably the heftiest, although the size is very manageable at 9" x 5").

This LA guide book is similar to the DK Eyewitness travel books in that it has pictures plus information about lots of locations to visit in LA.