“Becoming Los Angeles” is more tart and wise, what you might call an older man’s exhausted report on what’s still going wrong with our city.
“Holy Land’s” onslaught of short and muscular chapters - heavy with granular detail, philosophical musings, lacerating self-criticism and waves of fresh insights on one of L.A.’s less vaunted corners - still resonates today. Nearly three decades later, he’s out with an essay collection, “ Becoming Los Angeles,” which makes that short list of classics just a little bit longer.
Waldie’s classic 1992 memoir, “ Holy Land.” Anchored in Lakewood, where Waldie is a lifelong resident and a city administrator, it was an artful and original cry of suburban pain. right is short but it definitely includes D.J. The list of essential books that get L.A. Just ask the New York Times, or consult the work of any number of day-tripping feature writers, novelists and memoirists. It’s so easy to write very badly about Los Angeles. If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from, whose fees support independent bookstores.
