2 comments about Wine Tasting in San Diego & Beyond: Partake of the Grape in San Diego, Temecula, Baja, Rancho Cucamonga and Los Angeles.

1. I found this book to be very thorough. We visited some beautiful vineyards in San Diego County that we never knew existed. We're going to have a lot of fun (and good wine) with this book!



2. This book should have cost less than ten dollars, given the amount of useful information it actually provides. If we were to cull the empty half-pages (the author often had less than a page to write about some wineries; whatever happened to descriptive comments about all, or at least some, varietals, offered?), the useless recommendations on accommodations and shopping areas (I ordered a book billed to be about San Diego area wineries, not Bed & Breakfasts and mini-malls), and the author's many references to a tasting room reminding her of something in Europe, we would end up with a book a little more than half the size of this book... and at $15 retail, the book is already overpriced.
   
   There is some useful info regarding wine tasting, forming a tasting club, and comparisons of varietals, but this book could certainly have gone much further in identifying the relative quality of various wineries or different varietals within each winery's list of offerings.
   
   I bought this book as an out-of-towner with hopes of going to San Diego to sample some of the local wines. This book helps; but the reader could save some money by getting most of this information by searching the Internet for SD area wineries, and consulting area newspapers and tourist guides.

1 comments about L.A. Days, L.A. Nights.

1. Having enjoyed "L.A. Lore" by Brook, I bought this book, thinking it would provide more of his insights about the city. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the identical book, but with a different title. It remains a great book.
   
   Los Angeles, like New York, is a city that people either love or hate, but nobody thinks it's boring. That is, unless your only exposure to it is reading the traditional travel guide with its listing of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Disneyland and Universal Studios.
   
   Stephen Brook breaks out of that mold. An English writer who came to L.A. in the early Nineties, he proceeded to criss-cross the city, visiting virtually every major neighborhood, from Pasadena to Watts, from Beverly Hills to Long Beach. Not only did he bring an Englishman's fresh eye to the city, but he somehow arranged introductions to some of the most interesting people in it. In reading the book, one gathers that his open mind resulted in their opening their minds and hearts to him. He is simply a nice person, which comes through in his writing.
   
   The writing is succinct. Each of the 32 chapters consists of approximately 10 to 12 pages discussing a different aspect of the city (His breakfast with Carver Mead at Caltech, in Chapter 20 is alone worth the price of the book).
   
   Brook's forte is architecture. Los Angeles arguably has the finest architecture in America, and Brook provides addresses, the name of the architect, and a brief description of each building, yet somehow avoids sounding like a cataloguer. He is also strong in describing the various museums throughout the city, many of which I was not aware of.
   
   At the same time, he is equally at home discussing the political, educational and gang situation in the city.
   
   All in all, a fine book.

No comments about Literary Map of Los Angeles (Aaron Blake Literary Maps).

No comments about A Community of Angels: Los Angeles 2002.

No comments about The Los Angeles book.

2 comments about Where We Live: Photographs of America from the Berman Collection (Getty Trust Publications: J. Paul Getty Museum).

1. I saw this show at the Getty Museum in LA and it was one of the best contempory photography show I have seen. the book is great!



2. The 198 photos in the book are part of the 450 that have very generously been given to the Getty by LA collectors Nancy and Bruce Berman. This lovely book was published in conjunction with an exhibition of the photos at the museum in 2006 and 7. The twenty-four photographers featured are probably the leading contemporary exponents in the US of this landscape image capture and one reason I like this type of book is that I get to discover photographers I was not aware of. My main discovery here was Jim Dow. In the back of the book there is an excellent biography of the photographers which nicely lists their books, I've already got my eye on one by Mr Dow.
   
   If you are familiar with recent landscape photography (and I think it's worth stating that this means the man-made landscape rather than natural) you'll most likely have seen some of the photos included: 'Petit's Mobil station' by George Tice, 'Red building in forest' by William Christenberry or '2nd Street, Ashland, Wisconsin' by Stephen Shore are three I've frequently seen but I feel the strength of the book is the opportunity to compare how these twenty-four photographers interpret the same subject.
   
   The impressive page size: about eleven inches square, screen: 250dpi+ and quality paper and printing mean the photos sparkle on the page though I did wonder if maybe a few images had been taken from chromo prints rather than the original transparencies. I noticed a softness and lack of detail in a Stephen Shore photo of Easton, Pennsylvania for instance.
   
   The book cannot be considered a definitive survey of contemporary landscape photographers, only those in the Getty Collection have been included so no Lewis Baltz, Jeff Brouws, Gregory Conniff or David Graham for example but those that are presented are clearly part of the top creative interpreters of man-made America
   
   ***FOR A LOOK INSIDE click 'customer images' under the cover.

4 comments about The 101 Best Bars of Los Angeles: A Libationary Guide to the City's Finest Saloons, Pubs and Watering Holes, Plus Some Delightful Dives.

1. This book gives all pertinent information regarding many bars in L.A. The descriptions of setting and atmosphere are accurate and it even provides history and interesting stories and facts about L.A. bars. It provides a variety of different bars in L.A., from the most trendy, hip places, to the divey hole-in-the-walls. I've been to most of these places and frequent some, but this book makes me want to try each bar mentioned!



2. THis book is a great trail map for bars in Los Angeles. Mr. Mulvey is a truly likable man with a genuine interest in the semi-lost tradition of decent dives. The format of the book is convienent and has within it, a lot of interesting facts and anecdotes. If you are interested in bars, or if you aren't, this is the book for you. It will bring you up to speed about what's cool in LA.



3. Frank has put together a great selection of bars from Santa Monica to Pasadena. He loads each review with little tidbits that are seldom known by even the most travel worn Angelenos: Irish commanders leading Mexican troops past the current day Molly Malone's, the biggest sports bar in the world on Santa Fe Street (which unfortunately closed at Prohibition), and Walt Disney's first studio...just down the street from the Ye Olde Rustic Inn.

   It's a good book to have laying next to your Zagats guide when planning an excursion to a new part of town.




4. This was probably the best guide to bars I have seen for Los Angeles. The writing is witty and the choice of bars is great. My only complaint is the layout. It would be cleaner to list the bars in the appendix by area and attractions, rather than just one big list. If you live in L.A., this is a great book to own, if you want to discover a few new places.

No comments about Tour of Frank Gehry Architecture & Other L.A. Buildings.

No comments about Hungry? Deck Los Angeles 2008.

1 comments about Real City: Downtown Los Angeles Inside/Out.

1. This book started as a commission from the Los Angeles Public Library for Marissa Roth to take photographs of Los Angeles' downtown. In this completed form, it combines her photographs with D.J. Waldie's words in a clear-eyed and/yet loving paean to the city.

   Roth presents startlingly beautiful, stark black and white photographs of underground parking garages and murals, freeway underpasses and Chinatown neon, barbershops and street scenes. Waldie's passages are elegant and sparely poetic, from explanations of why downtown streets are 36 degrees off the true grid which rules most US cities (including much of the rest of this one) to the legend of La Llorona, with detours into the Church of Our City of The Angels and musings on the nature of downtown(s).

   Throughout the book, there is an awareness in both images and text of the special quality of the light that shines over Los Angeles and the shadows it casts. It's an aspect of life here that I have not seen addressed elsewhere, which I find surprising as it ensures that L.A. can not be mistaken for any other city, especially on an autumn afternoon when the sun is low.

   Altogether, the combination of beauty and information makes this book a wonderful addition to any collection of books on Los Angeles, American cities, or photography.