Sins of the City: The Real Los Angeles Noir

Rating:
Summary: For the "I Hate L.A." crowd only
Review: Sins of the City is a great picture book, with awesome images of pre and postwar Los Angeles noir. But it does lack the stories behind these images except for a few captions. I was expecting to find more text on L.A. noir and was a bit dissapointed. This is a great book to look at after reading "The Big Sleep" and "Farewell My Lovely" by Raymond Chandler. 3 stars for the great photos.

Rating:
Summary: Great photos, but lacks the stories
Review: Sins of the City is a great picture book, with awesome images of pre and postwar Los Angeles noir. But it does lack the stories behind these images except for a few captions. I was expecting to find more text on L.A. noir and was a bit dissapointed. This is a great book to look at after reading "The Big Sleep" and "Farewell My Lovely" by Raymond Chandler. 3 stars for the great photos.

Rating:
Summary: For the "I Hate L.A." crowd only
Review: The author was obviously inspired by the best movie of 1997, L.A. Confidential, to dig into archival photos to show the "real Los Angeles." However, his ugly condemnation of the city--a city that needs to be "redeemed"--is as hysterically false as the boosterism of the "noir era" that proclaimed the metropolis as an eden of sunshine and wealth. His iconoclastic glee is a little too much. Are we really to be shocked that in a city of millions you'll find crime, gangsters, potheads, gambling joints, religious frauds and crooked cops? And author Heimann, breathless as he seems to be, is hardly the first to dredge the underbelly of the glamour capital of the world. Writers like Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain and Nathanael West did so many, many years ago. As other reviewers have noted, the photos are interesting but the text is witless and non-instructive. And his generalizations are annoying. As a lifelong Angeleno, most of the city's residents--then and now--are ordinary folks working hard to make a living and raise their families. This comes off as a smear job. I don't love L.A., but I don't think it's a non-redeemed hellhole either, now or in its history. Chronicle Books is one of my favorite publishers, but this is very poor journalism verging on propaganda.

Rating:
Summary: Too many pics, no written content
Review: While the pictures are plentiful, they are a bit boring. Below average even. You should exit stage left before paying $ for this book.

Rating:
Summary: Too many pics, no written content
Review: While the pictures are plentiful, they are a bit boring. Below average even. You should exit stage left before paying $ for this book.