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The Best Best of LA Ever: LA Weekly's Stories of Survival
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The LA Weekly's annual Best of LA issue came out Thursday. This year's version, Best of LA 2005: Look Homeward, Angeleno, is edited by theater critic Steven Mikulan and features a compilation of creative nonfiction shorts on Los Angeles. Last year's Seven Deadly Sins version provided a mind-numbing number of recommendations - bars, clubs, restaurants. It was a useful guidebook but overwhelming. Here, Mikulan gives the writers room to expand. Rather than a list of twenty things they like, each one tells the story of one time, one moment, one place, from the Sunset Junction fair to backyard parties in East L.A.
This issue has heart. Staffers write their personal narratives about what they already love in Los Angeles. It's divided into four sections: Memory, Terrain, Mirrors and Destinations. Our favorite article is Kerry Madden's story Memory: Pregnant Pauses, Toys In The Crawlspace about her first year in LA. It begins with "We moved to L.A. in 1988 in a '74 Corolla, pregnant, jobless, no insurance. My husband, Kiffen, had intentions of acting. I would write. "
Of course there are still lots of restaurant recommendations, movie listings, and escort ads, but this issue is reaching for something even more valuable - an homage to the city, and an exploration of why we stay. Copies of this giant issue are available everywhere, including at most library branches, and - as usual - free. It's some of the most loving writing on LA you'll find.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
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