[Edited to add: originally, I gave this book 4 stars, as it was the first LA travel book I bought. But now, after getting a couple of different ones (*highly* recommend the 500 Hidden Secrets of Los Angeles), it’s really become clearer to me how much this book is lacking both in its organization and in its content. For instance, it lists Benihana (a chain restaurant) as a thing to do, and a number of other not-really-LA-specific things, and it totally misses out on a bunch of LA things! For instance, it doesn’t say to go to the Staples Center (for a concert or a Lakers, Clippers, or Kings game). It doesn’t tell you to see the Sparks (our WNBA team). Also, LA is *such* a hub for stand-up comedy and improv, but it doesn’t mention The Groundlings (the famous theater Will Ferrell, Kristen Wig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, etc. came from). It doesn’t mention the Comedy Store or The Laugh Factory. But it sure does mention a bunch of places to go bowling and play golf.
...I still do use it. And it can be an okay jumping off point, but you have to put in a *lot* of work yourself to better organize things and ideas from the book, and add a *bunch* of things it’s sorely lacking. So, I moved my rating to a 3, because it’s just average - not awful, not great. Could be helpful, but there are absolutely better books (and better lists online as well).]
Original review below:
This is a pretty fun book. I only got it a couple of weeks ago, and already it's well worn.
*Overall*:
This is a long review, so I'll put this short bit here. If you're going to be spending some time in Los Angeles, and you want to explore, this is a book that very well might prove pretty helpful.
*Some good*:
- It has a Calendar of Events in the back, so you can look at the month you're in and quickly see festivals & events that are season specific
- It also has an index in the back. So, if you happen to already know the place to which you'd like to go, you can easily see what page it's on to read more about it.
- There are lots of ideas in here! Some unique and more local-feeling, some super tourist-y things, and some in between. I appreciate that it runs the gamut.
*Some neutral*:
- The eating chapter goes from #406 - #599. It feels like sort of a lot of time is spent on food. (Plus, there's another section on food trucks in the "on the street" chapter. And there's food mentioned in other chapters as well.) For me, I'd rather hear about more experience-based ideas than that many food ideas. But some people love food. So, to each her own.
- I like the way the book's laid out. It is nice that if you're in the mood for something outdoors, or if you're in the mood for some kind of art, you can flip to those chapters. However, as other reviewers have mentioned, it would be easier in some circumstances if things were listed by neighborhood/area. It'd be easier to plan an entire day quickly (or to try on of the restaurants on a whim after you've done some other experience) without having to rifle through the book to see what else is in your area.
(However, as I mentioned, the way it's laid out is nice, and that's the valid choice the author made. So, I don't think it's bad or good necessarily. It's just different... It might be nice if there were a digital version that could be sorted in different ways. But I also love the feeling of holding the guidebook. So, I dunno... Moving on.)
*Some not so great*:
- If you decide you'd like to fully explore one area the book mentions, you might have to do a little hunting around in various pages of the book to get all the information on the area to which you're going. For instance, Griffith Park is not mentioned in only one spot. There are different ideas for things to do within Griffith Park in at least 3 chapters - "The Classics," "The Great Outdoors," and "City of Cars." I think it might be easier if you could see everything the book suggests for one place all in the same area of the book.
- You will almost certainly not do everything in the book (in case that's your goal). There are ideas for people with pets. There are ideas for people with children. There are ideas that assume you have no dietary restrictions (such as vegetarianism or veganism). There are ideas that are time consuming (classes that would take you weeks or longer), and ideas that are quite expensive (such as a private tour of LA).
And I do believe that's lovely, as it gives tons of options since there is no one-type of person in LA. But still, I just wanted to put that out there that there are some specific things that will not really be for everyone.
And even *if* you happen to be a parent/pet owner/meat & dairy lover who never has to worry about money and has tons of time on her hands, there is an entry about an underground tunnel system that is no longer accessible to the public. (It's not that that's changed since the book's printing. The book itself lists at the end of the paragraph that the tunnel system is no longer open to the public.) But, it is open to government employees. So, if you happen to be one of those as well, well then perhaps you could do everything in the book after all.
(Side note: Even if you *can* do everything in the book, you might not want to. For instance, there's a section that lists 8 different options for bowling. Unless you really love bowling, how many times do you want to do it? And how different could each bowling alley possibly be? However, I also could see how someone who loves bowling could absolutely love going to different bowling places, and could revel in the tiny differences (same with golf and other things mentioned in the book). Again, to each her own.)
- There are almost certainly not actually 1,001 things in here. (Granted, 1,001 is a lot. So you may not really need all that many.) For one thing, there are some redundancies. For instance, #52 suggests going to a game at Dodger Stadium. #161 suggests sitting in the highest tier of Dodger Stadium. I think it might've been nicer to have that top tier idea be an idea within the paragraph of #52 - not it's own number later in the book. (Also, along these same lines, there are things that could be argued are actually the same thing, even though they're listed as many. Example - there are 12 numbered things to do in Disneyland. To me, Disneyland is kind of one thing that you could expand on, possibly with bullet-points. But that's an opinion thing.)
- In the book's defense, there are then sections where multiple ideas are mentioned under the same number. (For instance, there's a place to compare the best different kinds of food. Example: There's Father's Office vs Umami for hamburgers under one number - so, technically two restaurants under one place. And the book does that for many other types of food as well. So, maybe there really are 1,001 things when some sections double up.
*How I use the book*:
- Whenever a friend wants to do something, or especially when someone comes into town and we don't know what to do, one of the first things we do is look at the book. It's proven to be very helpful, and pretty cool.
- Every time I do something in the book, I write in the margins a quick synopsis of when I did it and/or who was with me. (After all, there isn't tons of room in margins of a book, but it's nice to have a jumping off point to remember the day. :-))
- I also write down little bonuses when I do something that's not mentioned in the book. For example, I don't see The Mark Taper Forum listed anywhere (even though similar-ish art/theatre spaces such as The Ahmanson and Disney Concert Hall are listed, so I understand not listing every one). Still, I enjoyed adding the theatre to the list. If there's one thing I'd recommend writing in the book (if you're adding stuff to yours), see a show at Deaf West Theatre. It is so cool and so powerful!
Anyway, I know this review was long, but I hope it was helpful to at least someone out there. Overall, the book can be quite helpful. Nothing's perfect. And no book's going to fit every person perfectly. But this book seems like it'd be a great jumping off point for a majority of people. Enjoy LA! Hopefully the book can help you do that!
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