Translating LA: A Tour of the Rainbow City

by Peter Theroux, Jo Anne Metsch (Cover Art), Henry Sene Yee (Cover Art)

“Peter Theroux, as a brilliant translator and writer, has taught western readers about the Arabic world. Now, with Translating LA , Theroux crosses new borders―in southern California. With great wit and energy, he shows us the Los Angeles we have not understood well enough. He deconstructs and reconstructs the city famous for its separate freeway exits until finally and for the first time (like newcomers from a foreign land) we see Los Angeles whole.” ―Richard Rodriguez At a time when it is America’s leading candidate for the star role of Armageddon, Los Angeles still reigns as the destination p ar excellence and de facto trendsetter for the United States. Despite its curse of ancient and modern-day plagues―what other city can claim the rights to earthquakes and smog as well as riots and gang warfare?―Los Angeles remains the mythical source for the blood flowing through the American heart: the "pot of gold" that lies on the other coast of the rainbow. In Translating L A, Peter Theroux leads us beyond the rainbow in an affectionate and anecdotal guide to the human centers of Los Angeles. By bringing LA's thousand-and-one ethnic enclaves together with its broad range of social classes, Theroux understands LA by stretching across its fault lines with results that are "surprising and illuminating" ( LA Reader ). With its genuine sensitivity towards past, present, and future, Translating LA searches the souls of Angelenos to deliver a remarkable commentary on America's most complex and diverse city.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Essays, Cultural

276 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1994

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book by travel writer Paul Theroux's younger brother is probably better than most current books about Southern California, though it is riddled with errors which would not have been made by someone who was more familiar with the area. Translating LA: A Tour of the Rainbow City makes the usual mistake of concentrating on the crescent-shaped area that runs from downtown to Hollywood to Santa Monica, with the refreshing inclusion of Long Beach.

Peter Theroux should have known that Valencia is not over the border in Ventura County, but it is not a major error. Still, I don't think Peter will gave his brother much competition as a travel book author.

[David Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Theroux wrote this in 1994 as a transplant to LA who lived through the riots and two major earthquakes and who felt his adopted city was misunderstood. He ranges throughout LA, including Watts, East LA and the Inland Empire, to report on what he sees and ponder what it means. Open-minded, slyly funny, perceptive.

[Patrick Tarbox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the author does a good job taking a 30,000 foot view of LA and capturing it in a very specific moment of time (after Rodney King, but before OJ Simpson). I enjoy books like this where the author uses his own unique world view to tell the story, but also not make it feel like ‘I’m doing this to show how I support diversity’.

[Kevin Shay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting in parts. It was written back in the 1990s so it's not up-to-date.

[Reggie Morrisey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it is an old book, I enjoyed reading it while on a trip to Los Angeles. Theroux is a good writer.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a review about "Translating LA" and, in a way, about LA itself.

This was a big trip down the 10 freeway of memory lanes. The author writes about the events, communities, wonderfulness and contradictions that was LA from the mid 80s to the mid 90s. Yes, we're talking everyday life for Los Angelenos and tourists, as well as riots, earthquakes, and hunger strikes. I lived in LA at exactly this time as well and remember these ten years vividly. I had my bubble of UCLA ($350 tuition per quarter), Brentwood (I just realized that I was sort of a neighbor of pre-trial OJ), Centinela Ave in West LA (typical cheesy 1950s apartment with carpet to rival the set of "I Dream of Jeannie"), Venice (immensely fun, openly quirky, thankfully affordable and an arbiter of the new LA cuisine scene with Yama Sushi and Hal's Place).

I left my bubble, braved the freeway, and actually got out of my car to discover neighborhoods that left me in gorgeous awe as well as sad shock. The author did this as well and got to know LA better than most people who have lived there their entire lives. He visits many cities within the sprawling metropolis, talks to the locals, gives some historical context, and makes some judgements. All of this is OK, because we all have judgements and his are tempered by at least being there and trying to understand something versus making a decision while bumper-to-bumper on a elevated freeway.

While freeways, car culture, Hollywood, racial strife, and immigrant comings and goings all defined (and continue to define) LA, the city is changing. And that's a good thing in the sense that once a city ceases to evolve, it dies. I return to LA frequently and currently, I've learned about -- finally! -- the revitalization of downtown, the near complete absence of movie-making due to tax incentives in other states, the popularity of the metro and the actual opening of a line that goes down Wilshire Blvd., the crazy cost of a previously rent-controlled apartment in Santa Monica, and the continued existence of that special quality of sunshine that pervades the city.

You may hate LA or think you hate LA. Or you may be indifferent. The author seems to admire it. I love it, but there's a reason I don't live there. Unless you happen to drive into the Pacific ocean, LA goes on forever. This seeping of concrete prohibits it from having any visual definition or individuality, despite it's mish-mash of people. I guess that's what ironically makes it unique in the world.

[HeavyReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book cheap at a thrift store. A collection of essays about Los Angeles sounded interesting. In reality, the essays were mildly interesting. I appreciated the perspectives of a translator and adult literacy tutor that Theroux brought to his essays. I appreciated learning a little more about the cities that make up what people think of as “Los Angeles.” My favorite essay was the first, “Seismic City,” about the geology of the greater metro Los Angeles area and the La Brea Tar Pits.

This book gets extra points for including a map of the area under consideration.

(I'm putting this on my "travel" shelf even though Theroux was writing about the place where he lived at the time.)

[melvinhiddenelder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though there is some goo stuff here this is still another Westside centered book on LA. (Hint: The city doesn't end at the Los Angeles River and the San Gabriel Valley isn't just brown smog.) Your better off reading City of Quartz.

[Francisco · Rating 2 out of 5]

Coincidentally, I found this book laying on top of a dumpster behind my apartment, shortly before a trip I had planned to L.A. I brought the book into my home and, after reading the first half and skimming the second, promptly placed it back where it belongs.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really insightful stuff - an interesting mix of adopted hometown pride, insightful outsider observations, and grudgingly genuine admiration of the American Bizarre.