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Books about Los Angeles

Akilae729Akilae729 Registered User regular
edited January 2010 in Help / Advice Forum
So it is looking more and more like i'm going to spend an extended time living in LA and the more I know about this place, the more i seem to like it.

What are some good books about LA's history. I'm especially interested in the "water wars" and the old street car.

I'll take good movies too.

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Posts

  • DalbozDalboz Resident Puppy Eater Right behind you...Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Akilae729 wrote: »
    So it is looking more and more like i'm going to spend an extended time living in LA and the more I know about this place, the more i seem to like it.

    What are some good books about LA's history. I'm especially interested in the "water wars" and the old street car.

    I'll take good movies too.

    Well, if you want the water wars, "Chinatown" is a good one. Not a documentary, but still a great film that's pretty much focused on that.

    Dalboz on
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  • Akilae729Akilae729 Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Dalboz wrote: »
    Akilae729 wrote: »
    So it is looking more and more like i'm going to spend an extended time living in LA and the more I know about this place, the more i seem to like it.

    What are some good books about LA's history. I'm especially interested in the "water wars" and the old street car.

    I'll take good movies too.

    Well, if you want the water wars, "Chinatown" is a good one. Not a documentary, but still a great film that's pretty much focused on that.

    Thats kinda what got me into the whole idea

    Akilae729 on
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  • kaliyamakaliyama Left to find less-moderated fora Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    City of Quartz by Mike Davis, History of Forgetting by I forget who (ironic, no?), Cadillac Desert has some stuff on LA water. I'm curious what the best books about the LAPD, racism and gentrification are. I can find out, tho.

    As for fiction - Raymond Chandler gives a good sense of history and downtown. Ask the Dust, and Bukowski stuff. I'm a big fan of the Connolly series of paperback mysteries, but they don't really tell you about LA IMO.

    kaliyama on
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  • DalbozDalboz Resident Puppy Eater Right behind you...Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    My uncle recently published a memoir Los Angeles Jew. Despite the title or the book description, there's not much about the Jewish experience in Los Angeles, but is more about his memories of growing up and living in Los Angeles during the twentieth century and how things changed during his lifetime.

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  • DodgeBlanDodgeBlan PSN: dodgeblanRegistered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Not history but James Ellroy's L.A. Quartet is amazing

    DodgeBlan on
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