John Lau wrote
> Since the theme of this month is still Los Angeles,
I'm surprised no one's
> mentioned the LA LA Land books by Robert Campbell.
I've got an excuse,
I've
> never read them. But that's because no self
respecting native of Los
> Angeles, as few of us as there may be, would ever
refer to El Lay as La La
> Land.
When I introduced the topic I included a quote from
Campbell's In La- La Land We Trust. I'm almost finished with
Alice in La-La Land. Before this I had only read his Jimmy
Flannery books. The Jimmy Flannery books are not hard boiled,
and I don't think they are great as mysteries, but they give
a great picture of Richard M. Daley's Chicago as it is
popularly perceived. and are funny. I think his His La La
books are meant to do the same with Los Angeles, but his city
is the one at Hollywood and Vine. Once you accept his is
people are grotesques, the books are ok.
BTW, Campbell's detective, Whistler, like Bosch and Elvis
Cole, lives in a stilt house in the hills. I guess that's the
way to live in Los Angeles even though, as Whistler says, "In
summer I'm afraid of the brushfires charging down the
hillside. In winter I'm afraid the rains will wash me down on
top of the traffic. In between I'm afraid I'll walk in my
sleep and take a dive off the balcony."
That's a lot different view than Elvis Cole's who seems to
regard his house and its location as idyllic.
Mark
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