Héctor Tobar, [UCI professor of Chicano/Latino studies and literary journalism], is a son of Los Angeles, a city of “perpetual cultural mixing.” Here, he guides readers through the books and writers that cut through the city’s layers. … “Outsiders often think of Los Angeles as an anti-intellectual place, all Hollywood glitz and no substance, but writers have always been drawn to my hometown. … Los Angeles gave those authors the same thing it’s given me: a vision of a metropolis filled with natural delights and stark injustices, an Eden where people from around the world invent new versions of themselves — and a hellish stage of social unrest.” 

For the full story, please visit https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/17/books/los-angeles-books.html.