My L. A.
by Matt Weinstock

Every once in a while I find a book on our shelves that I didn't know we owned, or forgot we bought."My L.A." is one of those books. When I started flipping through it, I realized I'd rediscovered a gem - it was like finding a $20 bill in the pocket of a coat I haven't worn for a while.

Matt Weinstock was the Steve Harvey of his day, pointing up the amusing and absurd of Los Angeles in way that makes us proud to be part of the in-joke that is our fair city. Originally a columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News, Matt Weinstock knew this city like few do.

"In no other city is the simple business of living an occupational disease, from which recovery is practically unheard of."

Each chapter begins with a quote about Los Angeles, from the famous to the obscure, from other newspapers to Skid Row signage:

"It's not the heat, it's the humanity."

The entire book is chock full of the sort of circumstances that make Los Angeles what it is. Chapters cover everything: the residents and the layout of the city, the weather, the traffic, cults, crime & laws, tourists, earthquakes... everything that separates us from non-Angelenos, and even from the folks who live here but haven't grasped the reality that is Los Angeles. And every time you think he's writing about current day L.A., he'll drop in a date or topical event and you'll realize he's writing about something that happened in another time.

With smart-ass writing, this is an ideal pick-it-up-for-a-chapter book. If you love L.A., this book is for you. If you don't, read it to laugh at us. If you're not from here, pick up a copy to see what we're really all about, then AND now.

reviewed by Karen