The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of

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.

Notes on Contributors	p. vii
Chronology	p. x
Introduction: landmarks	p. 1
The literature of the Californios	p. 13
The Anglo invention of Los Angeles	p. 23
LA fiction through mid-century	p. 35
British expatriates and German exiles in 1930s-1940s Los Angeles	p. 49
Postwar Los Angeles: suburban Eden and the fall into history	p. 59
Los Angeles and the African-American literary imagination	p. 75
Pacific Rim city: Asian-American and Latino literature	p. 87
The literature of urban rebellion	p. 101
City of sleuths	p. 111
Los Angeles' science fiction futures	p. 123
Hollywood fictions	p. 135
The Southland on Screen	p. 145
Scenes and movements in Southern California poetry	p. 157
Surf, sagebrush, and cement rivers: Reimagining nature in Los Angeles	p. 167
Essaying Los Angeles	p. 177
Guide to further reading	p. 191
Index	p. 197
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The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of Los Angeles

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