The much-maligned, oft-hated James Frey, author of the fictional memoir A Million Little Pieces and the man most well-known for being dissed on national TV by Oprah Winfrey, is back. While many now agree that blame for the whole Frey-affair rests with both Frey and his publisher, Frey got the bad end of the deal and has been vilified ever since. This time, he's sticking with fiction instead of peddling fiction-as-truth. His new novel, Bright Shiny Morning, is about LA and he's signing books tomorrow night (with Josh Kilmer Purcell and Black Tide) at the Whisky a Go Go in a joint event with Book Soup and Vroman's. more ›

Rob Kutner discusses & signs Apocalypse How 7pm @ Vroman's more ›

Any Angeleno worth their salt knows this city can be both bright and happy or sinister and dark by quick turns or subtle steps or shameless spirals. There is much to celebrate about LA and much to shy away from - which makes it the ideal city-as-character in many a writer's novel. A few new books are out that feature LA and they're on our radar to check out this month. more ›

Sherman Oaks and South LA made national news yesterday when a Los Angeles native, now based in Oregon, became the latest decried author who penned a fraudulent memoir. Yes, Margaret Seltzer grew up in the Valley, no Margaret B. Jones (her non de plume) did not gangbang in South Central as her book said. more ›

A younger look: The LA Times health section is scraping the bottom of the barrel with a story about cosmetic surgery. We're used to local TV covering plastic surgery as "health" stories, but we'd thought the paper wouldn't confuse vanity with health care. Anyway, here's the gist: "Couples are making a date for cosmetic surgery as men seek to stay in step with their transformed spouses." Or wives 25 years younger. more ›

Some people, if they're lucky, get good at one thing. Like, say, photography; to be a photographer printed in Vogue and Life — that, in the 1940s and '50s, was excellence. Enough talent and vision for any one life. But for Gordon Parks, that was only the beginning. more ›

"We've located a massive, spectacular tunnel," Lauren Mack, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement told news organizations yesterday. Not only does the tunnel run for a half mile, from a Mexico warehouse to one in San Diego; it's got lighting, a drainage system and ventilation. Authorities believe it's the longest one ever discovered in the southwest. Let's find the people who built it and give them a municipal project: they sound quite ingenious. Oh, if you're a pot-smoker, we hope you've got a good stash: drug agents took 2 tons of marijuana from the Mexico end, waiting for tunnelized shipment to the US. more ›

This week Oprah takes on Osama. If you're thinking the Queen of Daytime might bring something soft and fuzzy to the table, no way. She's not telling Osama to keep a dream journal. She's going hard news, for two whole episodes. In fact, she's fearmongering up a storm: What should you be worried about? she demands. Meet the man who met Osama Bin Laden! How vulnerable are we to another attack?!? OMG, is the sky falling? more ›

Well, we can't promise that the star of Herbie: Fully Loaded will be at either of James Frey's readings in town this weekend but if she's going to make an appearance in New York, why not in her home base? Frey's new memoir, My Friend Leonard, takes up where A Million Little Pieces left off and covers a kind of father-son relationship that formed between him and another drug addict. Why Lohan connects with this type of material, we have no idea. more ›