It's possible that Snoop Dogg has never come across a product endorsement opportunity he didn't like, but his latest entry in the world of publishing makes sense. Snoop's book "Rolling Words: A Smokable Songbook" is just what it sounds like. more ›

Why has the internet gone apeshit spreading the news that LA Weekly's food critic Jonathan Gold is headed to the LAT? We take a look at the certainty of errors in reporting a known uncertainty. more ›

Ryan Holiday a self-described "media manipulator for notorious clients like Tucker Max and Dov Charney" has landed a pretty penny for a book deal. more ›

That's right: the days of dogging LA book culture might soon (finally!) be behind us thanks to The Los Angeles Review of Books, an ambitious new LA-based literature review journal that’s re-imagining the art of literary critique and propelling it into the 21st century. Digital, sprawling, and fearless, the LARB aims to reinvigorate book discourse by widening the margins of literary coverage and overthrowing the traditional book review format. more ›

One of the founders of Los Angeles magazine, Geoff Miller, died last night at his home in L.A., according to the Hollywood Reporter. Miller was 73. Miller, along with co-founder David Brown, are considered the creators of the "city magazine" genre, having began with the local publication "The Southern California Prompter," in 1960, nearly a decade ahead of "New York" magazine on the East Coast. more ›

While the common adage suggests everyone has one book in them, it fails to mention that book will average 28 rejections. Or that publishing it might take as long as writing it. Nor is it even insinuated that your one book, once it’s published, will hopefully make you about $1 per book—that is, if you can sell 7,000 copies first. So yes, everyone might have one book in them, but getting it published warrants an entirely different—and perhaps less optimistic—outlook. Thankfully, this past weekend, the LA Chapter of the Women’s National Book Association made it their mission to bring some clarity to the often-murky realm of publishing. more ›

This Saturday, the LA Chapter of the Woman's National Book Association is hosting Bookwoman Day, an all-day writing conference at the Marina del Rey Hotel. The event will provide a meeting ground for local publishers, literary agents, and book gurus to discuss various ways on "How to Get Published in 2011." more ›

A study conducted by Central Connecticut State University takes a look at literacy in major US cities and aims to present a portrait of the country's "cultural vitality," and it's not-so-great news for Los Angeles. more ›

Nam Le was recently in town to read from and sign The Boat, a wildly diverse and intense collection of short stories that did not immediately strike us a short stories and which prompted an interesting dialogue. While we make a point in our author interviews to ask questions that would be of interest to our readers, we found that in this case, we were compelled to ask some pointed questions about our own reading experience as we started this collection thinking it was a novel. Over weeks of email and a meeting at The Dresden last week, we sorted it all out. And lest you think we are the only ones who are crazy enough to cry foul about the elusive "stories" title on the book cover, take a look at Antoine Wilson's review of The Boat that appeared on Sunday in the LA Times. more ›

In an editorial yesterday, the Daily News let its readers know that the Department of Power and Water's union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 18, failed to sue the paper twice and agreed to pay $17,213 for legal fees. Why? Because they wanted to stop the Daily News from publishing the names, positions and salaries of department employees. Why publish this info anyway? They found that DWP workers earn an average of... more ›

There's no such thing as a quiet Monday in this town. Here's a quick look at what's happening: more ›

Dave Isay will be at the 3rd Street Promenade Borders today at 2pm to discuss StoryCorps - the ambitious project that toured the country in search of stories. Your stories. Our stories. Your great-grandmother's buried stories that you knew nothing about and then, suddenly, you did and nothing was quite the same again. more ›

A review of Adrian Tomine's new graphic novel, Shortcomings. more ›

An area of Mexico larger than metro LA is almost completely underwater after two days of severe flooding. Granted, we're busy fighting a Global War on Terror and it's inconvenient to help our neighbors, not to mention our own domestic needs, but... it's probably worth knowing that 80 percent of Tabasco is underwater. More rain is on its way. Our fires were on front pages around the world. So how come when Mexico experiences... more ›

While the Great UCLA Versus USC Debate may never reach a resolution (those damn Trojans are too hard-headed and engorged with pride to recognize true superiority when they see it), all Californians can hold their heads up with pride thanks to our excellent universities. I don't know if you noticed the recent Washington Monthly ratings of the nation's top schools, but they're giving the U.S. News and World Report a run for their money.... more ›

Over hot chocolate and chocolate-chip rugula at Canter’s in Hollywood, we spoke with LA author Mark Z. Danielewski about his latest novel Only Revolutions and got all worked up about film, freedom and fonts. He will be reading tonight @ UCLA, 5 p.m. RSVP here or call (310) 206-0961 to reserve a seat. more ›

Within the first 10 pages of Brandon Christopher's Dirty Little Altar Boy, a black-rubber dildo makes an appearance, a church's Eucharist wafers get stolen, and young Brandon reveals that he has to wear two pairs of underwear to deal with the anxieties of sixth grade. That's when you start to realize that you're not reading the standard collection of childhood reflections, but are perusing the memories of a great storyteller, one with the ability to inject the pacing of a high-octane thriller to boyhood shenanigans. And that's just in his 13th year of life! Imagine what happens when Christopher applies that same talent to tales of the forty-plus jobs he's worked, robbings he's survived, or his four-year stint as a professional writer of erotica. more ›

I know you're up there somewhere at your Big Sur in the Sky (hopefully), probably ignorant of all the buzz about the fiftieth anniversary of the publishing of On the Road, but I wanted you to know this: when I was fifteen years old I taped the following lines to the wall above my desk, and I meditated upon them sometimes when I was alone in my room much like you did, I suppose,... more ›

In a couple of weeks I will be joining 40,000 artists, misfits, deviants, hippies, vampires, musicians, furries, and nudists to participate in the 21st Burning Man Festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. So if you happen to be strolling through Venice Beach during the week of Aug. 27- Sept. 3 and wonder where all the freaks are at don’t be alarmed, we’re all just taking a much needed vacation from the default... more ›

Patrick Goldstein has a great idea. Replace advertising on the LA Times front page with a CD full of new music. Given that the recorded music business is pretty much over, and that exposure via film, TV and concerts is the primary revenue source for musicians outside of publishing assets for bands that write their own material, this seems like a pretty good idea. Talk to Prince. He has sold tens of millions of... more ›

LAist was comped front row seats by the Dodgers due to Malingering being struck by a foul ball last week, and she came back with some great photos, and earlier made fun of 4th of July on Venice Beach. But the biggest stories of the week was that the Mayor's Hot Tamale was revealed, and that a Kwik-E-Mart was erected in Burbank. Phillyist was busy doing the Fourth of July up right, exercising their... more ›

Watching the mainstream media hate on bloggers is becoming something of a sport, but if I were the betting type I wouldn't put my money on old school, print media. LA Times critic Richard Schickel is the latest to jump on the bandwagon. I like the Schickel's writing. I think he's a smart guy, and I respect his criticism. But he seems lost about the direction the publishing industry is heading. Schickel is absolutely... more ›

Grindhouse - I've already reviewed this movie, so I won't bother rehashing it, but trust me, Grindhouse totally freakin' rocks! Three full hours of beautiful cinematic mayhem. Are We Done Yet? - Ice Cube stars as a beleaguered urban dad who moves with his new wife (Nia Long) and her two kids to their dream house in the 'burbs and is terrorized by a contractor (John C. McGinley from Scrubs). Black Book - Dutch-born... more ›

Photo by The Spinosaurus @ Flickr
more ›

Today was D-Day in the long and storied public life of Tommy Lasorda. Today was the day he promised that he would sue Jody "Babydol" Gibson, the convicted Hollywood Madam, if she went through with publishing her tell-all book where she had a full chapter about the former Dodger great, as well as many other chapters containing the sexual details of other famous Hollywood movers and shakers. "I have never heard of this woman... more ›

David Hiller may be the most pessimistic man in the newspaper business. The Tribune Company exec who took over as publisher of the Times when Jeff Johnson was forced out for refusing to roll heads down Spring Street, appears neither ambitious, nor comfortable. His rambling rhetoric (listen below) largely expressed that he "just doesn't get it" and that even he can't wait to get his butt kicked back to Chi-town after the TribCo pinches itself... more ›

When we asked Guy Zimmerman, Artistic Director of Padua Playwrights, to make a Best of 2006 list, we found that it was a great way for Angelenos to see Los Angeles in 2007. From the shows to the venues he mentions, these are things to add to your "need to check out" list for 2007. He even gives kudos to a play that can be still seen -- The 99c Only Show -- three... more ›