Visions of the Southland: A Year in Los Angeles County

Experience a year in Los Angeles County, in all its glitter and grit, through a unique anthology that pairs essays by acclaimed writers and historians with custom maps.

When many of us picture Los Angeles, we’re actually thinking of LA County. Home to roughly ten million people, the county alone is more populous than forty-two US states. Its eighty-eight cities include places made famous by Hollywood glamor and California dreaming—Beverly Hills, Malibu, and Santa Monica—but also working-class municipalities and the self-explanatory City of Industry. With a territory that includes the Pacific coastline, mountain ranges, and the high Mojave Desert, the county’s landscapes have been touched by earthquakes, droughts, and, of course, devastating fires. LA County is a place of extremes: progress and injustice, innovation and stagnation.

Visions of the Southland collects essays by writers, journalists, and historians to create a nuanced portrait of LA that’s grounded in the county itself—its sites, structures, and stories. Contributors—including Gustavo Arellano, Keri Blakinger, Lynell George, Christopher Hawthorne, Michael Hiltzik, Greg Hise, Carolina Miranda, Becky Nicolaides, Susan Straight, and David L. Ulin—delve into LA’s infamous air pollution, movie ranches, prisons, aqueducts, urban forests, SoCal Bohemianism, and more. A custom map by Ezra Rawitsch enriches each piece and grounds the reader in specific locations throughout the county. Unfolding over the course of a year, the book traces the rhythms of politics, sports, weather, and wildlife across this sprawling and enigmatic place.

Sweeping in its scope and gorgeous in its design, Visions of the Southland will delight Angelenos, history buffs, urbanists, and map enthusiasts alike.