Zeroville / by Steve Erickson

Ike Jerome, nicknamed "Vikar", arrives in Hollywood in the summer of 1969 with nothing but an extremely odd tattooo on the back of his bald head. The image shows a silhouetted image of two movie stars: Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in a rendering of a scene from the film A Place in the Sun. As a man haunted by a severely restricted, irregular past and largely unfamiliar with his own identity, Vikar is a curious character even amidst the counterculture of the day. He's a bit edgy too, erratic at times, confrontational and frequently violent (especially when it comes to misunderstandings about his tattoo). He's coherent enough though and at times ironically intellectual, his psyche seemingly held together by a curious mixture of conviction and fascination over his passion in life--the world of the movies.

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Vikar is an obsessive, almost possessed devotee to the movies, having only seen his first real film at the age of 16--his rigidly pious, overbearing father disallowing all forms of popular entertainment. He has since become enraptured by all things silver screen; the actors, directors, cinematography, production design, etc. all drawing him almost trance-like back to the the theater, often multiple times in one day. Now in Hollywood, a place Vikar is sure he will find people to share his love for the cinema, he discovers the world around him to be oddly clueless. The hippy landscape on which he's landed is largely disassociated from moviemaking, instead focused more on drugs, sex, music and progressive activism. In addition, it's a culture now targeted by the authorities owing to the recent Manson family murders. Vikar, ever conspicuous with his peculiar appearance and vagrant status living as a tramp in the Hollywood Hills, has even been interrogated on suspicion of his own involvement with the crime even as he's never heard of Charles Manson or his "family"

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Zeroville is an exquisite literary experience. Reminiscent of Don Delillo or Thomas Pynchon with its unconventional structure--terse 1 or 2 paragraph chapters and idiosyncratic subject matter--the novel is a refreshing work by a talented writer, equally provocative and entertaining at every turn. The author of award-winning novels like Amnesiac, Arc d'X and The Sea Came in at Midnight, Erickson's work has been described as apocalyptic for its rendering of themes involving dysfunctional societies and isolated characters. Zeroville carries this notion to a new level with a familiar place and time inhabited by quite a unique individual surrounded by a world seemingly on the edge of destruction. (FIC ERICKSON)

Bright Shiny Morning / by James Frey

Though it was as much by scandal as by literary merit that James Frey came to notoriety--his memoir A Million Little Pieces about his junkie/rehab days discovered as being not altogether accurate--his work has still been recognized as a unique new voice in contemporary literature. In his first real fiction book, Frey examines the social and cultural diaspora of Los Angeles through a hodgepodge of historical tidbits, quirky factoids and poignantly characterized iconoclasts.

Predilections and bias aside, it has to be said that if any one city were so thoroughly influential that it's legacy encompassed the globe, it would be Los Angeles. Yet "city" may not even be the most appropriate terminology to describe the mammoth conurbation that is Los Angeles County proper, as absurdly flamboyant and yet intricately manifold community as any one concentrated metropolis ever was. LA is the entertainment capital of the world, the glamour capital of the world, the pop culture capital of the world. It is the [adult film] capital of the world, the gangbanger capital of the world, the surfing capital of the world, and, in no small order, it is the natural disaster capital of the world. Also, not unlike other cities though in far greater proportion of diversity, it can be said that LA is the "world" capital of the world where dozens of ethnicities, nationalities, races and creeds all congregate into one teeming mass of post-modern civilization.

Dylan and Madi are two young lovers just arriving from Ohio to chase down their dreams. Amberton Parker is a mega-movie star whose public life hides a very private secret. Old Man Joe is a homeless drunk who looks 70 even though he's only 39. Esperanza is a bright young first-generation American permanently scarred by one incident of public humiliation. Though their lives are hardly similar and despite the fact that they will never meet or experience the same of anything together, they are all a part of that absurdly glamorous but maddeningly depraved, ridiculously wealthy yet atrociously disparate, increasingly dangerous and frequently violent cosmopolis that is Greater Los Angeles. It's a world where dreams can definitely come true, but also, and perhaps more defining, it's a place where shattered dreams and nightmares are far more prevalent.

For what it's worth (and there is a disclaimer at the beginning of the book for any wrong or unintentionally skewed references), this work of general fiction spliced into an almanac-style travelogue is unique if only for its subtle--almost subliminial--insights into one of the world's most recognized places. If you've never experienced Southern California up close, this is the book to read before, or even if you never plan on, traveling there. Frey does right by letting everyone in on the secret: all things considered, the downside(s) of LA pretty much overwhelms any conceivable upside. And yet it's so diverse--"worlds within worlds within galaxies"--who's to claim the one identity which could accurately describe it? (FIC FREY)