Spectacular Illumination: Neon Los Angeles, 1925–1965 Paperback – August 13, 2016

Great book on the history of Neon in the urban Los Angeles landscape.

Great historic L.A. and neon history book.

I initially imagined this book of contemporary photographs of vintage neon (like the wonderful San Francisco Neon: Survivors and Lost Icons), but the authors took a totally different approach which I appreciate, achieving a perfect balance between strong images and succinctly contextualizing text. The well-designed, well-written, well-researched book elicited many fond memories of the 1950s to '70s exploring LA with my grandmother. My personal favorite spread is pp. 144-145, the juxtaposed Belmont theaters. We often walked from Baba's house at 147 N. New Hampshire the two blocks to see whatever double bill was playing at the Belmont. And I lived in Belmont Shores for several months in the early 1980s, and loved passing the theatre where I had seen (with my French class in the mid 1960s) "Sleeping Car Murders" and "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg". You'll likely have a renewed perspective on Los Angeles history and/or perhaps your own memories will be ignited by this handsome volume.

Contenu assez décevant