No comments about Hidden Los Angeles and southern California: The adventurer's guide.

No comments about Marmac Guide to Los Angeles (Marmac Guide to Los Angeles & Northern Orange County).

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No comments about Los Angeles Magazine - May 1999: Julia Stiles, Travel Special.

No comments about City suit against hotel sites draws interest from across state, region.(Up Front): An article from: Los Angeles Business Journal.

1 comments about Translating LA: A Tour of the Rainbow City.

1. Let's face it, Los Angeles gets more negative press than any other city in America. Much of this is because it's such an easy target-from police brutality, to earthquakes, to disgustingly ostentatious wealth, to smog, to gang violence, to sprawl, to racial tension, to the film industry-so much of how outsiders define LA is easy to use as fodder for contempt. And when you have a city that covers over 1,000 square miles and includes about 85 incorporated cities, one is left with a megalopolis that's hard to get one's mind around, much less defend.

   That said, Boston-raised writer and translator Theroux does his best to find the good in LA. After ten years living in the Middle East, he moved to Long Beach in 1985 and set himself up as a translator. In twelve breezy chapters that mix the history of LA's different areas with his own excursions and recent history, Theroux makes the case for LA as a multicultural melting pot that remains as the overwhelming symbol for the American good life in the Third World.

   It's far from a comprehensive history or in-depth analysis (Mike Davis' City of Quartz will serve one better), but it does do a nice job of taking the reader through some of the neighborhoods with the aim of trying to explain how they are different and why. There are no big lessons to be learned, but Theroux's crisp prose and storytelling are a treat, and his open-minded approach to the city make for a nice change.

2 comments about CityTripping Los Angeles: Your Guide to Restaurants, Nightlife, Shopping, Culture, Fitness, Hotels.

1. Great book, especially for the young and young at heart. Unlike most other city guides I see this one really appears to be written by insiders who genuinely seem to know what they're talking about. Useful for both visitors to the city as well as people who are already in LA. The book is well structured with separate sections on eating out, nightlife, shopping, culture & arts, lodgings and many more. If you want to know where the current "in" places are and the real inside information on LA then this is the guide for you.



2. When I landed in LA, it took me a good 3 months to find a series of haunts, owing simply to the sheer size of the place. This book breaks it down by neighborhood, "scene," and type of venue, so that the only other guide you need is a Thomas guide (the ubiquitous, highly detailed road map that occupies the back seat of every car in Southern California). Great insider info, seedy backstories, and a dead-on dissection of the various scenes make this a great introduction to America's most puzzling megalopolis. Fodors would be hard pressed to top this.

No comments about Los Angeles, California (See the USA).

5 comments about Trails of the Angeles: 100 Hikes in the San Gabriels/Book and Map.

1. This book is just filled with great trails. It includes a detailed map, only drawback is the map is not laminated (waterproof) but all inall i never leave home without this



2. John W Robinson's experience and unique historical perspective set this guide apart. It is a simple, no-nonsense guide. There are no fancy Icons, or detail maps (a great separate topo style map is included). I own a few guides which feature some hikes in Angeles National Forest. This is the only guide which focuses solely on the San Gabriels (with a couple in the nearby San Bernadinos). I "Trails" religously. My copy is worn out, taped up, coffee stained, and full of tape flags. I have read and re-read each hike inumerably. If you plan on hiking the San Gabriels, this is the only book you need.



3. My wife has discovered the benefits of exercise. First, there was (and still is) the Y, where she spends 2-3 hours a day with step classes, cross trainers, and weights. The sick thing is, she loves it. (I go perhaps 3-4 hours per week, but only because I know it's good for me. I'd much rather sit with a good book, cheeseburger, and fries.) In any case, she's now discovered walking/hiking. She speed walks 10 miles every Saturday morning with a like-minded group of fanatics. They're planning to hike to the bowels of the Grand Canyon, and back up, in 2008; I'll be the one on the rim drinking iced tea.
   
   TRAILS OF THE ANGELES describes 100 hikes into the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles. (It doesn't include the Verdugo Mountains immediately to the south of the San Gabriels or the San Bernardino Mountains further east, in case you're wondering.) I thought my wife and her walking chums would find it useful for getting into trekking shape.
   
   The 2-3 pages dedicated to each of the hundred hikes includes "Features" and "Description", as well as a heading noting the hike's length, difficulty, and season. Perhaps two-thirds include a single black and white photo of something interesting to be seen nowadays or some structure of the past now represented only by ruins. Additionally, the volume contains separate brief chapters: "The San Gabriel Mountains" (geology, fauna, vegetation), "Humans in the San Gabriels" (a history of human influence on the area, recreational hiking being a major pastime between 1895-1938 before paved roads invaded the wilderness), "Hiking Hints" (including "hiker ethics"), and "Using This Book".
   
   TRAILS OF THE ANGELES ends with a "Summary of Hikes", which lists all 100 according to difficulty (easy to strenuous), length (1 to 28 miles), and trip (round trip, one way, or loop).
   
   The key ingredients of any guide of this sort are the directions given to the trailhead, and the route to be followed once boots hit the ground. Author John Robinson seems to do reasonably well at this though, mind you, I haven't had to put the acquired knowledge to practical use - yet. Directions to the various trailheads follow the same general tone as the following (Angeles Forest Highway to Big Tujunga Narrows, Hike #53):
   
   "Drive up the Angeles Crest Highway to Clear Creek Junction, then left on the Angeles Forest Highway (L.A. County Road N3) to an unmarked parking area shaded by a lone incense-cedar on your right, 15.5 miles from La Canada. If you reach the Narrows Bridge, you've driven 0.3 miles too far." What happens if some prankster chops down that cedar tree in the dead of night and hauls it away for firewood?
   
   Once on the chosen path, Robinson's directions are exact (as for Eaton Saddle to Markham Saddle, San Gabriel Peak, Hike #32):
   
   "Walk past the locked gate and across the rugged south face of San Gabriel Peak via the Mt. Lowe fire road 0.5 mile to Markham Saddle. At the saddle, just beyond the water tank, turn sharp right (north) and pick up a brushy, unmarked trail leading up the mountainside. Follow the trail up one switchback, then across the west slope of San Gabriel Peak to the high saddle between Mt. Disappointment and San Gabriel Peak, about 0.75 mile. Part of this pathway is eroded where it crosses the steep slope, so watch your step. At the saddle, turn right (east) and follow a steep climbers' trail up the ridge to the top." Hmm, do you suppose they could replace the water tank with a coke machine?
   
   A picture, so to speak, is worth a thousand words. And it's here that TRAILS OF THE ANGELS falls a bit short, in my opinion. Whereas in the hiking guides authored by Robert Stone (e.g. DAY HIKES AROUND LOS ANGELES and DAY HIKES ON THE CALIFORNIA SOUTHERN COAST) where each route is illustrated with a very detailed map within the book itself, TRAILS OF THE ANGELS attempts to accomplish the same with a separate, but included, 38" x 19" recreational map of the region. One side is a small scale rendering of the entire San Gabriel range, the other "zooms-in" on individual locales (Liebre Mountain Area, Crystal Lake Area, Big Tujunga Area, North of Pasadena, and Mount Baldy Area). On both sides, the trails are drawn in red with the corresponding hike number (1-100) from the book noted alongside. Now, while this seems acceptable, and is probably perfectly adequate, I would personally prefer the relatively large scale rendering of each trail in the Stone books and not have to unfold an unwieldy map every time I needed visual reinforcement. What if the unfolded map blows away in a sudden gust? I guess it's a matter of individual preference and experience (the latter of which I have none - yet).
   
   My wife has been closely studying TRAILS OF THE ANGELS, visually evaluating my physical constitution with a critical eye, and verbally sampling my willingness to be a trekking buddy. She's already gone and purchased hiking boots. Oh Lord, I've created a monster. I could've gotten her the GUIDE TO L.A. COMFORT FOOD EMPORIUMS instead, but no!



4. The descriptions are nice, but unlike the San Bernardino mountain version of this book, there are no GPS coordinates of the trailhead. I hope the next version includes them.



5. This book is the go to source for hiking in the San Gabriel mountains.
   I have earlier editions, and was pleased to see many hikes updated and revisited and new ones added.
   All previously closed or open hikes now revisited and updated.
   author is handing off this book to writer of a younger generation who embraces the same spirit and style of the excellent ealier editions.
   nicely done.
   glad I updated my copy.
   Also comes with a great water proof-tear proof map.
   buy this book.

No comments about The Los Angeles Underground Gourmet.