James Frey's Top Twelve L.A. Books

In compiling this list I decided to include 12 books, instead of 10, because I thought each of these books deserved a spot on the list. I also decided not to include multiple books by any writer because I thought each of these writers deserved a spot. L.A.'s literary culture has always been underrated. These all are great books by amazing writers.

The Big Sleep
by Raymond Chandler

The first of the Phillip Marlowe novels by L.A.'s greatest and most influential writer. There's a mansion, a paraplegic general, a blackmailer, a nymphomaniac, a missing husband. There's murder, mayhem, drugs, and a couple awesome plot twists. Beyond that, there's great writing.

I'll Let You Go
by Bruce Wagner

Wagner is famous for his "cell phone trilogy," three satirical novels that detail the banalities and absurdities of Hollywood. While I enjoyed all of those books, I think I'll Let You Go is Wagner's masterpiece. It's the story of 13-year-old Toulouse Trotter, who lives on a gigantic estate in Bel Air, and his father, who lost his mind before Toulouse was born and now lives on an underpass in downtown L.A. It's written like a Victorian novel, and it's ridiculous, sublime, and heartbreaking.

Post Office
by Charles Bukowski

I love Charles Bukowski. Post Office is my favorite of his autobiographical novels, starring his drunken profane frustrated dirt-poor genius alter ego Henry Chinaski. Chinaski works as a post man. He fucking hates it. He writes in his spare time, chases women, gets drunk, gets in fights. He quits to try and make a living gambling at the track. He can't do it, so he goes back to the post office to work as a sorter. He fucking hates it. He writes in his spare time, chases women, gets drunk, gets in fights. It's a great book.

Ask the Dust
by John Fante

Published in 1939, Ask the Dust is the semi-autobiographical story of young Arturo Bandini, who moves to L.A. from Colorado to become a writer. He lives in a flophouse and falls in love with a young Mexican waitress, who ignores him unless he insults her. Bukowski called Fante his god. Anyone who loves L.A., or has ever wanted to be a writer, or just loves great books, will dig this one.

Less Than Zero
by Bret Easton Ellis

Ellis is my god, or at least one of them. He has never been given his due, and I believe in 50 years he'll be considered the greatest writer of his generation. He wrote Less Than Zero when he was 19, it was published to great acclaim when he was 21. It tells the story of Clay, home on winter break, his on-off girlfriend Blair, and his best friend Julian. They drink, drug, and fuck their way across the city. As is the case with all Ellis's books, it's a relevant today as the day it was written, maybe more so.

Tapping the Source
by Kem Nunn

The first, and maybe only, truly great surfing novel. I've heard the corny movie Point Break is loosely based on it. Also set in Huntington Beach, which is just south of L.A. Young hardscrabble kid named Ike, who grew up and lives in the desert, leaves home to find his sister, who disappeared from Huntington Beach, and falls in with a group of unpleasant locals who control the area's waves. A loyal movie version would be amazing.

City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles
by Mike Davis

Originally written as a Ph.D. dissertation, City of Quartz is a breakdown of the city: its development, its economics, its culture. Davis writes beautifully, poetically. His skill and virtuosity are intimidating. The book examines what the future may hold by looking at the past. The prognosis is grim. In my opinion, the best book ever written about L.A. as a city, regardless of genre.

The Last Tycoon
by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald's was living in L.A. and working on this book when he died of a heart attack at age 44. It's loosely based on the life of Irving Thalberg, who became president of Universal Studios at age 21. Much of the narrative centers on the day-to-day workings of the film business. What exists of the book is great; some people believe it would have been as good or better than The Great Gatsby if it had ever been finished.

The Day of the Locust
by Nathanael West

The classic L.A. novel, it's set in Hollywood in the 1930s, but it might as well be set in the Hollywood of today. It's about the failure of the American Dream, the mirage of it as it uniquely exists in L.A. It's a sad and brutal book, but it might be considered a comedy if it didn't ring so true. West died in a car wreck on his way to F. Scott Fitzgerald's funeral. Somehow fitting.

The Concrete Blonde
by Michael Connelly

Connelly is a bestselling mystery writer. Unlike many of his contemporaries in the genre, he's also a great writer. His best books are part of a series about LAPD detective Harry Bosch, a Vietnam vet who kicks ass, breaks rules, and solve cases. I've read and truly enjoyed all of the Bosch books. The Concrete Blonde is my favorite. Is about a serial killer called The Dollmaker, who killed women and then made them up to look like children's dolls. Bosch believes he discovered and killed The Dollmaker. The man's widow believes Bosch killed an innocent man and is suing him and the LAPD. During the trial, The Dollmaker, or a copycat with details only the police and the real killer should know, strikes again. Bosch has to find out what's going on. He kicks some ass, breaks some rules, etc.

My Dark Places
by James Ellroy

Some people think Ellroy is heir to Chandler. They both write about L.A. and crime in L.A. When looking, however, at each man's work in its entirety, I believe Ellroy's to be far more ambitious in scope and range. My Dark Places isn't the best book he's written (that is probably either American Tabloid or The Cold Six Thousand) but it's my favorite. It's a memoir about the murder of his mother when he was 10 years old, how it profoundly affected his life and his writing, and his attempt, with the help of a private investigator, to solve the murder almost 40 years later.

Devil in a Blue Dress
by Walter Mosley

Mosley might be more appropriately thought of the as the heir to Chandler. His Easy Rawlins series may ultimately be thought of as comparable to Chandler's Marlowe series, if it isn't already. Devil in a Blue Dress is the first book in the series. Easy is an Army war veteran living in South Central, unemployed after losing his job at an airplane factory. He gets hired by a wealthy white man to find a missing woman. What follows is classic noir, recontextualized for a different culture and setting by a great writer. If you dig hardboiled detective fiction, you have to read Mosley. He's one of our few living masters.