Books I Read January 30th, 2022

Winter in LA is a slice of paradise. Everything is green and the light is clear and you can wear a sweater in the evening. After a long period of laziness I'm back on my reading grind, evidence of which is to follow...

Silent Close No. 6 by Monika Maron – In the last days of the DDR, a listless intellectual takes on a position as private secretary for an aging Communist bigwig. A sharply written, funny, not entirely unsympathetic of the generation of Germans who built East Germany and tried to force it on their children. Maron is very talented, I've got another by her on the shelf.

First Light by Peter Ackroyd – A collection of archaeologists, astronomers, and various others try and make sense of a pre-historical find in Dorset, the complexities of human existence. This was fine. I'm not quite sure what possessed me to read a bunch of Peter Ackroyd lately.

I Dreamt the Snow was Burning by Antonio Skarmeta – A jock from the provinces come to Santiago in the days before the assassination of Allende. A Faulknerian recreation of the golden moments before hell came to Chile. Funny and energetic in defiance of the subject matter.

Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies by Reyner Banham – The classic work of LA boosterism. I always love reading enthusiastic discussions of my adopted homeland, and Banham brings a lot of insight into the world's premier postmodern city, even if his encomium to the freeway system falls a little flat.

The Gold Coast and the Slum by Harvey Warren Zorbaugh – A depiction of inner city Chicago in the mid 30's, and some thoughtful if overheated commentary on the destabilizing effects of city living. Also, surprisingly not that racist given its time.

The Irish Stories of Sarah Orne Jewett by Sarah Orne Jewett – Sympathetic if mawkish depictions of Irish immigrants to Jewett's native New England. Pleasant if slight.

Nomadland by Jessica Bruder – You probably saw the movie.

Voltaire in Love by Nancy Mitford – A chronicle of the occasionally passionate romance of two of the great thinkers of the French enlightenment. Nobody does caddy social history like Nancy Mitford, and this was a fun read.