Mapping
the Literary Landscape of Los Angeles
Your
tour guides: Mount St. Mary's College students
Is
there such a thing as
L.A. Lit?
We're starting to think so.
Students
in Scott
Bryson's Freshman English courses at Mount St. Mary's College
are currently constructing this website devoted to the phenomenon of
Los Angeles Literature. We
realize that for many people, the terms "Los
Angeles" and "literature" don't seem to go
together, and we are aware of our city's reputation for
shallowness and superficiality.
Still, despite this (in some cases fair) criticism, we
feel that we can make a pretty compelling argument that a
great deal of good writing has emerged and is continuing to
emerge from Los Angeles.
On our website, we attempt to make this case.
One
thing we've noticed is that literary scholars have not given
Los Angeles writing much attention.
Recently, very helpful critical work has begun to
appear, most notably that of David L. Ulin (Another City:
Writing from Los Angeles and Writing Los Angeles:
A Literary Anthology), Lionel Rolfe (Literary L.A.),
David Fine (Imagining Los Angeles), Julian Murphet (Literature and Race
in Los Angeles), Paul Vangelisti (L.A. Exile: A
Guide To Los Angeles Writing 1932-1998), and William
Alexander McClung (Landscapes of Desire).
However, we think that much more remains to be done
with this fertile subject, and we hope our site at least
increases the interest in L.A. literature.
The
information gathered on our website has been amassed by first-
and second-year undergraduate students, and we have devoted a
great deal of time and effort to providing accurate, helpful,
and interesting information. What we present here is not
the work of professional literary critics, and what you see is
very much a work in progress.
Still, we feel that we are offering here a useful tool
for fans and students of literature written out of and about
L.A.
Explore the links below to take a look at some of the most compelling and evocative literature around. Then check back frequently to see what's been added. We're doing a lot here.
Los Angeles Novels,
Short Stories, and Plays
Click on the novel titles below for resources on these
works. (This list of books will grow over the next few
semesters, and we'll be adding poetry as well.)
|
|
Less
Than Zero |
Tropic
of Orange |
 Devil in a Blue Dress Walter Mosley |
|
|
|
The
Revolt of the Cockroach People |
Day
of the Locust |
|
If
He Hollers Let Him Go |
|
Zoot Suit and Other Plays |
|
 Day of the Locust Nathanael West |
|
|
 The Handyman Carolyn See |
|
|
Locas |
Eulogy
for a Brown Angel |
Golden
Days |
What we mean when we say L.A. Lit. An explanation of the criteria we have used in selecting our texts and defining our field. (under construction)
The rationale. A brief explanation of the underlying principles that guide and justify this project as an academic exercise.
The assignment. An abbreviated version of the instructions students were given as they began this project.
The syllabus. An example of the syllabus students see for the Writing about L.A. Literature course.
Bibliography: Los Angeles Literature. An extensive, if still incomplete, partially annotated bibliography on L.A. Literature.
Where to start. If you're coming to L.A. Lit for the first time, here's a list of secondary/critical books you'll definitely want to check out. (under construction)
Our site in the news:
**We've made every attempt to document materials appearing on this site. If you find information that should be more clearly attributed, please let us know.
**For more information or to offer feedback, contact Scott Bryson: sbryson@msmc.la.edu.