Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Top 10 LA noir novels

Jonathan Kellerman is the author of the Alex Delaware novels. He named a top ten list of LA noir novels for the Guardian.

One title on his list:
The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West

Not a crime novel per se, this book remains the finest account of Hollywood heartbreak ever written. If it's noir you're looking for, this one's saturated with nuclear fatalism. And would-be starlets.
Read about another book on Kellerman's list.

The Day of the Locust
also figures among Jane Ciabattari's 5 best novels on Hollywood and Jonathan Evison's list of books about the Spirit of California; it is one of Peter Conn's five best novels from the Great Depression.

--Marshal Zeringue