In the past 10 years, a growing interest in Los Angeles has attracted creative people from all over to the city. In this issue, we address what’s changed in this deracinated and polyethnic California metropolis. We look into the heart of the city’s peculiar mythology, its legends, values, images, and dreams, old and new. Is LA historian Mike Davis’s claim that the city is “playing the double role of utopia and dystopia for advanced capitalism” still valid? From the original ’80s Blade Runner to the recent remake, what’s changed in LA’s vision of the future? Is Los Angeles really projecting a better future, or just another illusion? As they say, it’s the final frontier. We revisit LA’s mythology, and rather than filter it through cultural theory, we look at it through real experiences, intimate stories, and the personal perspectives of LA figures — artists, writers, historians, surfers, chefs, scientists, and personalities. From the first page to the last, the articles are organized as an atmospheric and geographical journey through the city, starting with the coast, the light, the ocean, then heading out to the Eastside, returning to the Westside, then driving out to the desert. It takes a kind of innocence to love LA, but it’s surely the right place to face these confusing times. — Olivier Zahm

Format: Hardcover

Condition: Good 

Year: 2018