The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of Los Angeles

Los Angeles has a tantalizing hold on the American imagination. Its self-magnifying myths encompass Hollywood glamour, Arcadian landscapes, and endless summer, but also the apocalyptic undertow of riots, environmental depredation, and natural disaster. This Companion traces the evolution of Los Angeles as the most public staging of the American Dream - and American nightmares. The expert contributors make exciting, innovative connections among the authors and texts inspired by the city, covering the early Spanish settlers, African American writers, the British and German expatriates of the 1930s and 1940s, Latino, and Asian LA literature. The genres discussed include crime novels, science fiction, Hollywood novels, literary responses to urban rebellion, the poetry scene, nature writing, and the most influential non-fiction accounts of the region. Diverse, vibrant, and challenging as the city itself, this Companion is the definitive guide to LA in literature.

Author: Kevin R. McNamara
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 06/01/2010
Pages: 248
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.86lbs
Size: 8.94h x 6.38w x 0.46d
ISBN: 9780521735544

About the Author
McNamara, Kevin R.: - Kevin R. McNamara is Associate Professor of Literature at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.