Book Review: "Dear Los Angeles" Edited by David Kipen

Los Angeles has never been a city of any interest to me whatsoever. New York City has been, so have places like Jamestown, New Orleans and San Francisco. Los Angeles is somewhere I've always viewed as too same-ish and too new to have any real historical or architectural value. This is part of the reason I ended up reading the book Dear Los Angeles. I wanted to discover more about the city, its people and the way the city was viewed by those outside and inside its walls.

There was definitely a mix of people ranging from politicians to Albert Einstein all the way down to Ryan Reynolds. However, I cannot say I know more about the city now than I did before reading the book. Yes, there are some little stories about the city but most of it is just by people who lived there - it doesn't actually have anything to do with the city of Los Angeles itself. I don't think that the two-sentence story by Marilyn Monroe in which she drinks some nice champagne has anything to do with Los Angeles, no matter how much I do actually want to read about Marilyn Monroe drinking nice champagne. It would have suited another book - but to say this is a book about Los Angeles would be a lie.

Dear Los Angeles is a book that compiles over 250 years of Los Angeles writings. These are writings about the city, from the city and about travelling to and from the city. Well, that is what it is supposed to be about. Most of the time though, I found myself wondering how some of these writings were even remotely connected to the city. Instead of being strictly to do with Los Angeles, I think the person who put this together was far more focused on making the city look as glamorous and expansive as possible. There was a very clear image in mind and barely any writings that would give a differing point of view. This is one thing I cannot say that I enjoy - when compiling writings and short stories about a particular place the editor should really not try their best to make the place look a particular way and instead reveal many different types of opinions and writings to the audience.

For example: Los Angeles is obviously home to Hollywood, but it is also home to the great people who caught the ridiculous Night Stalker. Why are there not any diary entries from those kinds of people? Well, because apparently their opinion is not as glamorous as the stars of Hollywood of whom someone reading about Los Angeles could probably not care less about. There should have been more range explored than simply writers, politicians and Hollywood people. I mean, I adore the writings of Evelyn Waugh but his opinion and writing about Los Angeles does not give me a view of the city - especially not where this compilation is concerned.

One thing I did like about this book was the older writings contained within. The historical writings which talked about expanding land in Los Angeles and all the different kinds of people within. It was like stepping back in time and viewing the city from the eyes of someone who saw a vast expanse of nothing. It was being populated, it was being mined, it was being built and these were the writings that really gave it the 2.5 marks that I wanted to give. Los Angeles being built is far more interesting that bland Hollywood opinions from gated communities where poor people are told to shove off. The historical Los Angeles may not be covered a lot, but there was so much room to write more. Yes, Los Angeles now may be very same-ish and lack diverse architectures and lands. But back then it was a free-for-all and a city of possibility.

Altogether, this book was a bit of a let-down. I came in wanting to learn about Los Angeles and what I got was a bunch of writings that were barely anything to do with the city. It seemed like the editor had something in mind and then just choose not to do it at all. It would have been better as a travelogue - maybe written by the editor themselves instead.