Ry Cooder's Los Angeles Stories was published ten years ago but only came to my notice a few days ago when passing time in a charity shop. It reads like it was written yesterday or maybe sixty/seventy years ago which is the setting for these unputdownable gems.
Cooder's descriptive narrative is the equal of any of the above. Phrases such as, I got the feeling you get when a sax player takes a solo in the wrong key.
The theme of the book is Americana although there's a lot of jazz references. In one story, Charlie Parker goes into burger joint, orders and eats six cheeseburgers. In another, the story involves a jazz record collector with a stackful of rare 78s.
There's more guys get killed here than in any three hardboiled novels and few live happy ever after.
Apart from the stories which, excellent as they are, are, at times, a bit confusing. The beauty lies as much in the scenario behind the saga. The cars: the Studebakers, the Oldsmobiles, the '49 Fords, the Cadillacs, the Lincolns, the Buicks. The bars: the juke joints, the greasy spoons, the bowling alleys. The guitars: the Dobros, the Gibsons, the Fenders, the Bigsby Triple Neck. The doss houses: the sleazy hotels and the losers hiding out in them because this book is about losers in L.A.
What I can't understand is, who would be mad enough to part with such a book?! Lance
City Lights Books ISBN 978-0-87286-519-8
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