Sherwood Smith's Reviews > Dear Los Angeles: The City in Diaries and Letters, 1542 to 2018

This book could have been written for me.

I collect letters and diaries, as I find firsthand glimpses of the past so much more interesting than fiction written through a modern lens, or historical treatises that go on about politics without focusing on the individuals. (Though I must say, historical writing by today's scholars is veering away from white male gaze on politics and more toward the actual people involved, including women.)

But anyway. From time to time over the years, when I'm either really tired, or have just a bit of free time, I'd go through my various collections of letters and diaries and look up that day of the year, and read what people did and thought on that day, over the centuries.

Well, this book has taken the same idea. The preface discusses in an engaging way what the author did once he'd begun collecting all these letters and journal entries about Los Angeles over the years. He tried various organizational methods, then landed on a similar idea to my "On this day" game: for each day of the year, he's chosen letters and journal entries that refer to Los Angeles in some way.

The earliest entries are written by explorers and priests during the 1700s. We see Los Angeles emerging--the sharp scent of citrus, the earthquakes, the distinctive geography, the droughts--as a wild mixture of people try to find common ground in a relatively benign climate. Human nature is not so benign: some entries are high-minded declarations that everyone, no matter what their background, has similar rights (and we know how well that was observed); in other entries, there is so much casual violence that it's taken for granted, until rudimentary justice systems are set up. And we see those in action.

Interspersed are entries from Los Angeles at the turn of the century, and of course many modern ones. Inevitably there is going to be an emphasis on the film industry (and how fake so very many find the city and the life therein, while they collect their huge paychecks; the poor somehow don't have the time or luxury of finding Los Angeles life 'fake'), but there are quotes from a range of people.

The ones I found most riveting, though disturbing, are from an intelligent, observant young American of Japanese background. During 1942-4 we see glimpses of this person's life ripped apart as the FBI comes for them, then they lose everything, and of course when December 7th rolls around, we see their horror at the news, because they are helpless to do anything about what the Japanese empire has done--they are American citizens. Though not for long.

Interspersed between sometimes fatuous and sometimes sharp Hollywood commentary are Latina and Latino people, living their lives, and then, always succinct, Octavia Butler's occasional entries.

I meant to make the book last, but I simply couldn't stop reading. Especially when some of the more modern quotes intersected with my life: one famous person went to the Griffith Observatory, and enjoyed the lecture and presentation tremendously, and I thought, I bet I know who you were listening to. Another went through the same earthquake we endured in 1971. A third well-known person pawed through the used books at Acres of Books in Long Beach (sadly, tragically, no longer there), which I have been to so many times. There were other connections.

About the only complaint I have is that I could have done with a whole lot less of Theodore Dreiser's smirky sexual exploits with his very young mistress. But I could recognize them after a time, and skim for actual content, which he had, occasionally, though always self-involved.

Many entries are poignant, sharply observed, wistful, tragic, stark. It would have been nice if there were pictures, but actually, I found I had images for just about all of the places and times.

Copy provided by NetGalley