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So I just finished The Long Good-Bye, by Raymond Chandler, which I loved for its priceless assessments: “She opened her mouth like a fire-bucket and laughed. That terminated my interest in her. I couldn’t hear the laugh but the hole in her face when she unzippered her teeth was all I needed.” And also because it helped me go a little easier on LA. Whenever I don’t feel like I’m understanding or appreciating someone or thing in my life, it always helps to take a step back and re-enter through the eyes of someone else or some other era. Disagreeing with a friend? Access his baby photos if you can. Down on yourself? Revisit some essay you wrote when you were 7.
When I wanted to connect more to the neighborhood of Brentwood, I read Blonde. When my commute took me past 1403 N. Laurel, where Fitzgerald lived, I reached for The Last Tycoon. When I wanted to love Ivar Street more, I picked up Day of the Locust and was touched to know it was once called “Lysol Alley.” Obviously, cities are memorialized in film and TV all the time, and when I miss New York I’ll absolutely put in something Woody Allen (those panoramic apartment shots!) or When Harry Met Sally or (my favorite) Splash. 
But since LA is where I live now, I stand to benefit more from investing in its lore. Why did people come here fifty years ago and what was it like? It was heartwarming to hear Philip Marlowe kvetch about the misery of 1953-era smog or how it feels to drive home after a bad gig: “I drove back to Hollywood feeling like a short length of chewed string.” What about you? Which books have helped you love your city more?
Comments (40)
Comment
“The Sirens of Titan,” by Kurt Vonnegut.
The first time I read about the battle of Boca Raton, I stopped completely loathing that blemish on the map of florida.
posted by kay on 11-29-2007 at 5:37 pm
No books for my city, but…
Nathanael West is my FAVORITE author EVER, and I got very excited about the reference. No one ever knows who he is!
posted by leofishy on 11-29-2007 at 5:46 pm
I grew up in New Hampshire, and I used to love the fact that many of Stephen King’s novels were set in New England. Especially “It”, which was set in my old stomping grounds of Hampton Beach, NH. Oh, and here’s a bit of trivia for you - how long is NH’s coastline? (Answer…18 miles)
posted by David on 11-29-2007 at 5:50 pm
Confederacy of Dunces — New Orleans
posted by ella blue on 11-29-2007 at 5:54 pm
rabbit redux…..John Updikes’ romp through Reading Pa.
How Not to get Laid in Williamsburg….
I actaually wrote that one…
posted by markschofer on 11-29-2007 at 6:20 pm
Spider Robinson’s “Callahan’s” series. Oddly enough, the gang at Callahan’s/Mary’s Place blew outta Long Island the same year I did. I went to LA, they went to Key West.
posted by Joe Maz on 11-29-2007 at 6:22 pm
Another Stephen King novel for me… “Carrie” helped me love my obscure little town in Maine. Many of Stephen King’s novels take place in a fictional town called Castle Rock, based on the town in which he went to school. In other words, my town. Very strange.
posted by Allison on 11-29-2007 at 6:24 pm
Remembering Blue by Connie May Fowler. It begins in Jacksonville, FL, moves through Tallahassee- mentioning many of my favorite childhood locations and settles on an island that is based on Dog Island, Florida, a tiny map dot with no bridge and is the current location of our beach house (at least until the next hurricane). It’s so perfectly written… it’s a love song to the places I grew up.
posted by Sarah on 11-29-2007 at 6:48 pm
Books set in my city of Huntsville, Alabama are few and far between, but there are a few (Code to Zero by Ken Follett had some scenes in Huntsville from the Von Braun era and some of Allen Steele’s SF books have scenes in Huntsville). I’m also fond of books my semi-local authors, like Greg Iles and Robert McCammon who write books set in Alabama and Mississippi.
I recently visited LA for the first time and I actually spent a good bit of time driving around the neighborhoods where some of my favorite books and book series took place, such as the Elvis Cole series by Robert Crais and the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly. LA gave me a double sense of deja vu since I’d seen it so much in movies and TV and read so many books that were set there. By the way, books deal with the geography much more realistically than movies. Characters in movies will be in one area of the city and be 20 miles and an hours worth of traffic away in the next scene change. I actually had internalized a fair amount of the geography from the books.
I do the same thing with books about D.C. where I travel to frequently. I’ll recognize a place I’d been before when I read about it, but I’ve also sought out places around the city that were the settings of books I’d read.
posted by Chris on 11-29-2007 at 7:12 pm
I live in Las Vegas. As cliche as it may be at this point, Fear and Loathing still captures it best.
posted by Jill on 11-29-2007 at 7:32 pm
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (Chicago)
posted by Joe G on 11-29-2007 at 8:50 pm
Geez, Chris, I would love to cruise throught the places where the Elvis Cole books were set. Heh, heh, heh, the only books set where I’m from are the Ruby Ann Boxcar Down-Home Trailer Park Cookbooks (but very few of the places in the book actually exist)
posted by EEB on 11-29-2007 at 9:01 pm
“A Prayer for Owen Meany” by John Irving for Toronto.
posted by SW on 11-29-2007 at 9:06 pm
I’ve never read a book set in Jackson that I’m aware of. Perhaps there aren’t any. Guess I’ll have to rectify that.
posted by Aemi on 11-29-2007 at 10:21 pm
I just moved to San Francisco five months ago, and a series of books titled “The Immigrants” that covers a span of almost ninety years really gave me a crash-course in local history.
posted by KevinJ on 11-29-2007 at 10:31 pm
Vikram Seth’s “The Golden Gate,” about the Bay Area & Stanford.
It’s a novel in verse, like Pushkin’s.
posted by Will on 11-29-2007 at 11:27 pm
“The Tooth Fairy”, the serial killer from “Red Dragon”, the book that introduced the world to Hannibal Lecter, lived in St. Charles, MO, which is the next suburb over from the one I live in. Granted, nothing I can recall from the book is set anywhere that actually exists in St. Charles, but it’s still a pretty cool bit of trivia.
posted by SpaceMonkeyX on 11-29-2007 at 11:46 pm
Actually it’s not a book it’s a song by Tony Bennet, I Left my Heart in San Francisco. In fact,whenever I hear it I get homesick.
posted by Melinda on 11-30-2007 at 3:13 am
Does non-fiction count?
Richmond’s Burning is a great narrative history of the final days of Richmond, VA during the civil war.
Part of the fascination for me was being very familiar with the various scenes of action as they are today. I could follow the story geographically and easily imagine the action.
I can’t think of any fiction that takes place there.
posted by Bassman on 11-30-2007 at 7:04 am
Elmore Leonard’s books are almost always set in Detroit. They are almost always good, as they read so well. I read many of his gritty, crime books as an older kid, and still think about them when I drive through any particular part of the city.
posted by Rob on 11-30-2007 at 7:55 am
I am from South Louisiana and Confederacy of Dunces not only captures the feeling of New Orleans, but enhances it. I will never be able to walk down Canal street without thinking of Ignatius.
posted by amystars on 11-30-2007 at 8:14 am
Toronto - there are a lot!
But my favourite by far is definitely In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje.
posted by Ronnie on 11-30-2007 at 9:09 am
Kathy Reichs (whose novels are the basis for the show Bones) lives in Charlotte, NC and the city is featured pretty prominently in her books. I’ve only lived in Charlotte for about 2 years, but it’s really cool to read these and actually recognize a lot of the places she mentions, since Charlotte isn’t all that big :-)
posted by Kary on 11-30-2007 at 10:05 am
Man with the Golden Arms by Nelson ALgren (Chicago.)
The neighborhood it was set in was once a haven for down on their lucks, alcoholics, and junkies. Now its filled with million dollar homes, chic boutiques, hip bars and every other car on Division is a Beamer.
posted by Natalia on 11-30-2007 at 10:20 am
Devil in the White City MENTIONS my city - Fort Worth, TX. Too bad it was because Mudgens hung around here.
My great uncle wrote a book that my family has yet to get published. It takes place in Fort Worth and is the true story of my great-grandmother who ran a bordello during the Depression. Also, many Larry McMurtry books mention Cowtown.
posted by Nola on 11-30-2007 at 10:22 am
I’m probably wrong on at least one of these… I haven’t read any books set in Tulsa, where I currently live. And, I’m pretty sure there aren’t any books set in Naperville, IL…where I used to live.
However…reading the Nicholas Sparks books make me want to visit the Carolinas. Girly of me, I know but whatever!
posted by Rosie on 11-30-2007 at 10:36 am
Aemi,
Do you mean Jackson, MS? Aren’t a few of the Grisham books set there (A Time to Kill comes to mind).
Some of Greg Iles’ best books, such as The Quiet Game and Turning Angel, are set around Natchez.
posted by Chris on 11-30-2007 at 11:05 am
Anything written by William Faulkner that mentions “Jefferson” or “Yoknapatawna county”, which would be Oxford, Mississippi. Growing up there was a wonderful experience and I wish everyone could visit at least once.
posted by karissa on 11-30-2007 at 12:05 pm
anything pat conroy, but esp “beach music” - he goes all over the state (sc)
posted by prentiss on 11-30-2007 at 1:46 pm
The Truman biography has a lot of interesting historical information about Kansas City in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Also, Buck O’Neil’s book, I Was Right On Time, is a great read about Kansas City’s place in the Negro Leagues
posted by Ralph on 11-30-2007 at 2:17 pm
There aren’t a lot of books about my town, at least as far as I know, but American Gods ends here.
posted by Amanda on 11-30-2007 at 2:33 pm
‘The Road’ made me appreciate the America we still have, and really, having a home at all.
posted by Christie on 11-30-2007 at 6:42 pm
Dragons of the Cuyahoga. I know there are other books set in and around Cleveland, but this was the first I ever read. I seem to recall the author had elves living in Squire’s Castle… and the fact that I knew all the place names made everything a thousand times more fun!
posted by erm on 11-30-2007 at 8:51 pm
Oh, I forgot about the Grisham books, some of his were set in places in Arkansas…but the Trailer Park book is set in my hometown…sigh…
posted by EEB on 12-1-2007 at 1:25 pm
The Man With The Golden Arm is a great book, and yes, the neighborhood is crawling with yuppies and hipsters these days. But the house that Nelson Algren spent most of his adult life in still stands on Evergreen between Damen and Wicker Park Avenues.
Also, Crossing California by Adam Langer is a great read about growing up Jewish on the far NE side of the city. Not that I am Jewish or grew up on the North side, but enjoyed the book nonetheless!
posted by JHop on 12-1-2007 at 1:56 pm
Probably not translated from french to english yet, but “Carnet de naufrage” by Guillaume Vigneault and “Les aurores montréales” by Monique Proulx are great books in which Montreal is described.
posted by Amélie on 12-3-2007 at 7:37 am
Jesus’ Son is in Iowa City! Also, a number of John Irving novels take place, in part, in Iowa City!
posted by Jennifer on 12-3-2007 at 2:35 pm
While I don’t live there, I’m a tourist and can vouch for both the accuracy and hilarity of several Christopher Moore books, most notably A Dirty Job, which even gets into the sewer system (OK, no direct experience there…), and earlier novels Bloodsucking Fiends/A love story and You Suck/A love story.
If you like Carl Hiassen, you’ll love Moore, and they paint a charming picture of San Francisco and its zany residents.
posted by Chan on 12-4-2007 at 12:36 pm
A series of mysteries by Tony Dunbar set in New Orleans conveys the raffish charm of the city (pre-Katrina). His hero is an attorney called Tubby Dubonnet. Also, the food he describes sounds incredibly good.
posted by miriam on 12-9-2007 at 8:38 pm
Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” series is set in my hometown of Forks, WA– one of the few perks to living in one of the rainiest places in the world!
posted by Kristin on 12-18-2007 at 7:57 pm