Can I read Land of Smoke and Mirrors : A Cultural History of Los Angeles on EtoBox?

Land of Smoke and Mirrors : A Cultural History of Los Angeles by Vincent Brook, 1946- is a nonfiction available to read on EtoBox.

What is Land of Smoke and Mirrors : A Cultural History of Los Angeles about?

Unlike the more forthrightly mythic origins of other urban centers-think Rome via Romulus and Remus or Mexico City via the god Huitzilopochtli-Los Angeles emerged from a smoke-and-mirrors process that is simultaneously literal and figurative, real and imagined, material and metaphorical, physical and textual. Through penetrating analysis and personal engagement, Vincent Brook uncovers the many portraits of this ever-enticing, ever-ambivalent, and increasingly multicultural megalopolis. Divided into sections that probe Los Angeles's checkered history and reflect on Hollywood's own self-reflections, the book shows how the city, despite considerable remaining challenges, is finally blowing away some of the smoke of its not always proud past and rhetorically adjusting its rear-view mirrors. Part I is a review of the city's history through the early 1900's, focusing on the seminal 1884 novel Ramona and its immediate effect, but also exploring its ongoing impact through interviews with present-day Tongva Indians, attendance at the 88th annual Ramona pageant, and analysis of its feature film adaptations. Brook deals with Hollywood as geographical site, film production center, and frame of

Who reads Land of Smoke and Mirrors : A Cultural History of Los Angeles?

Author

Vincent Brook, 1946-

Publisher

New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press

Published

2013

Language

EN

ISBN

9780813580500

Category

nonfiction

Subjects

History, Performing Arts, Literary Fiction