Los Angeles Stories
 Los Angeles Stories | |
| Author | Ry Cooder |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | City Lights |
Publication date | October 2011 |
| Pages | 224 pp |
| ISBN | 978-0-87286-519-8 |
Los Angeles Stories is a short-story collection by Ry Cooder. Cooder's first published story collection, the book was published by City Lights Books in late 2011[1] as part of its City Lights Noir collection.
Table of Contents
- All in a day's work[2]
- Who do you know that I don't?
- La vida es un sueno
- Kill me, por favor[3]
- End of the line
- My telephone keeps ringin'
- Gun shop boogie
- Smile
Reception
Early reports in the Los Angeles media described the book as "an atmospheric look at post-World War II L.A. that unfolds in Chavez Ravine and Venice, Santa Monica and Bunker Hill."[4] and compared the style to "the Beats and Noir", with "musicians, streetwalkers and other hard-nosed denizens cruising through the madness of our city."[5] San Francisco Chronicle reviewer Jonah Raskin said, "Cooder fans will enjoy the upbeat mix of music and murder. Aficionados of noir fiction will love the characters . . . ."[1] Mother Jones critic Tim McDonnell called it "a requiem to a city wherein the world's tides swept together an impossibly diverse culture that was quickly squandered and homogenized by Hollywood and hit-hungry record executives" and "a deeply humane history of the time before instant pop hits and sprawling superhighways."[6]
References
- 1 2 Jonah Raskin, "'Los Angeles Stories,' by Ry Cooder", San Francisco Chronicle, October 2, 2011.
- ↑ http://www.scribd.com/doc/63607543/Table-of-Contents-and-First-Story-from-Los-Angeles-Stories
- ↑ http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/los_angeles_noir_20111005/
- ↑ David L. Ulin, "Fall book preview", Los Angeles Times, September 18, 2011.
- ↑ Joe Lapin, "Best City Ready For Its Literary Close-up", LA Weekly, September 22, 2011.
- ↑ Tim McDonnell, "Ry Cooder's Vintage Los Angeles Fiction", Mother Jones, October 17, 2011.