City of Angeles

by Marlayna Glynn

Please note that The Trilogy contains three of the author's Overlay, City of Angeles, and Big as All Hell and Half of Texas.


This middle tale follows the award-winning memoir A Tale Of One Girl's Life In 1970s Las Vegas, as the author continues her remarkable journey in City of Angeles, revealing the underside of a life lived in 1980s Los Angeles.


This searing, often bizarre tale of Marlayna's teens and twenties reveals her flight from Las Vegas through the formidable world of self re-invention among the angels and demons populating 1980s Los Angeles. The author unflinchingly begets a self from the unlikeliest of beginnings, and now delivers a sequel illustrating both heaven and hell on her continuing flight for self discovery.


"An amazing story of a young girl who comes of age with only snippets of guidance from the adults around her. This is a well written book with explicit prose of Marlayna's continued journey looking for love and acceptance. She tells this very personal story vividly. There were moments I had to stop reading to absorb the "life shattering" events Marlayna experienced that would have crushed many and other moments in the book that I laughed out loud." - Eileen Cahill Moalli

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

ebook

First published July 11, 2012

About the author

Marlayna Glynn is a memoirist, publisher, and award-winning photographer. Immediately upon publication Marlayna's first memoir, Overlay: One Girl's Life in 1970s Las Vegas, was honored by the Next Generation Indie Book Awards with an Overcoming Adversity award.

Marlayna's published journey includes more than 60 books. In 2017, she founded Birthright Books, LLC, a ghostwriting agency to help others design their memoirs.

Marlayna's articles have been featured on Huffington Post, PBS Next Avenue, Elephant Journal, and The Good Men Project. Her work has been translated into many different languages and is available in audio format.

Marlayna travels extensively, but can sometimes be found in Austin, Texas with her twin flame, Allen, and their Maine Coon, Luchador.

Find Marlayna's short film People That do Something, which is based on a chapter from Overlay, on Marlayna's Youtube channel. To contact Marlayna please visit www.birthrightbooks.pub.

Reviews

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the latest installment of Marlayna's memoirs and I still shake my head in awe of how she has the bravery to put her life, mistakes and all, out there for all to see. It also reminds me of the experiences in my own life that I've cringe-ingly repressed out of memory. It seems that her therapy is to remember and commit to paper the experiences that went differently than she wanted and mine is to shove them into the recesses of my memory until I don't remember them anymore. Kudos to her for this and also for surviving so many shitty men who walk the Earth dick first. It also made me miss her a lot.

[Cathy L · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a gift, to all of her readers, from the author. She invites us into her world, and lets us view it from the inside / out... I felt as though I was beside her through each step of her joy, her pain, her choices... her life. I found bits of myself reflected in her words, which led me to new and deeper understandings of portions of my own life. She describes her experiences with insightful precision, infusing them with the newness of each moment.

[Ann Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

City of Angels is a very sad, depressing tale. I feel bad for Marlayna Glynn Brown. I hope her life swung upward after this book!

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read / listened to this memoir in audio format via audible.com. I love audios as the narrators tend to breathe life into the stories. Audios also allow me to read on a daily basis and still get my work done! Audio books also make great road companions!

Wow, what a story! Here we are in book 2 of Memoirs of Marlayna Glynn Brown. In book one we learned about How Marlayna grew up and memories from as far back as she could remember from being a toddler thru her High School years. Now in book 2, we get to learn of what life was like beyond her High School Days. How Marlayna got married , had children, took trips, jobs she had and so on.

Wow Marlayna, you sure had a rough life! I felt so bad for you fighting for your marriage. I cried over the kitten. I would have called the cops on Billy - he is just plain creepy! It is amazing you even were able to hold it together! I remember the Rodney King riots and the OJ times too. There is an old saying that what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger! I picture this to be so true with you and your life. I am willing to bet, your children turned out to be better people from your life experiences. I know mine did! It is the wiseness (hindsight) we gain from bad situations that help's us make our kids even smarter.

The author, Marlayna Glynn Brown does a fantastic job telling us how life was for her and her children. Once again her facts are spot on. Listening to this memoir had me remembering so many things that happened in history... That earthquake was horrible! The narrator, Abby Elvidge did a fabulous job once again delivering this memoir to us. The speech is very clear and those accents were awesome! Great job ladies!

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should have stopped at Overlay. Not that City of Angeles was a bad book; it just didn’t come close to conjuring the same emotional response that Overlay did. I do not fault the author, for this is her story as it continues from her late teens into motherhood. However, her adult life experiences are not nearly as fascinating as her dismal childhood. Although her adulthood is definitely not perfect, her experiences are not all that unusual. Actually, for Marlayna, this may be a good thing. It tells me that through her determination and help from her guardian angels she somehow overcame the demons of her past. She was able to avoid the odds and journey into a productive life; becoming a wonderful mother and a good person. I am happy for her. In hindsight, I knew that trying to duplicate the emotions the first book evoked for me would be futile…I know better, but natural human curiosity can be a flaw. Instead, I should have kept that little sprite-like image of Marlayna, as a child, close to my heart. I should have just savored her tenacity, courage and innocence and learned from her old-soul, wisdom—know when to fold them.

[Jessi Nill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having previously read the first book I was eager to read more. While this part of the story is much different and not nearly as sad but there's more of a feeling of melancholy rather than the strong emotions evoked from the first book. I think it's interesting to see how her past likely shaped the way the author dealt with her future/current relationships and while I was hoping she would have left her husband much sooner I also know her story wouldn't be the same if she had. And I like that even though somethings happened differently than maybe she'd hoped there's no obvious regrets in her tone. What's funny is I felt like I was missing a piece of the story, like a chunk of the author's life wasn't there and after reading the ending from the author in which she explains leaving out one of the relationships she had it made perfect sense. I think it takes a lot of strength to handle everything, make the tough decisions, and I'm really looking forward to the third book from this author.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 2nd book in her memoir series. This book tells of Marlayna's young adulthood in Los Angeles and her trials and tribulations with love. I truly enjoyed the reference of angels at the beginning of each chapter. It was quiet an education to learn about the history and hierarchy of angels. Although I found this book entertaining, I did not think it was as well written as her first book. There were chapters that were truncated and really not necessary for any part of the story development. Once again, I am always impressed with children who have grown up in neglected homes and thrive towards a successful, happy adulthood. I am looking forward to the third book hopefully coming out soon.......

[Sarah Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/26 -- I just got this book through Kindle Unlimited and can't wait to read it. I loved the author's first book and her style of writing.

Off I go to start this book.

7/27 -- Have you ever read a book and before you realized it, several hours had passed since the time you started reading? That was me with this book. I am in awe of everything that Brown had to endure in this book, and through it all, she came out on top, facing each obstacle like a champ.

The way that she writes, you forget that the events are real and really happened to her. I. WILL be reading her next book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second of her 3 books about her life, this wasn't as good as Overlay, but I still really enjoyed it. Although it's still amazing that she came out of her childhood and did so much better for herself, I found it strange how each time she got pregnant she was surprised and hadn't planned it. After so many times, I don't know if she didn't use birth control or what, kind of strange. But it was very entertaining and a great read overall.

[Dina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I did not love the follow up book to Overlay as much as I did the first story, it was another well written and interesting story. I loved following Marlayna's story and reading of where her life has gone. I look forward to reading the final book in the trilogy. I read the first two today if that tells you anything :)

[Tara Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was looking forward to this after reading the first memoir in this trilogy & was not disappointed! Very relatable, and interesting to read how childhood patterns affect us as adults. I enjoyed the segments on Angels at beginning of each chapter as well.

[Jeni Sanderson rutjens · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 2nd book did not disappoint! Loved following Marlayna in her journey through her teens to adulthood, marriage, and becoming a parent. This book leaves you wanting to know more, and thankfully Marlayna writes a 3rd! :)

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved her first book, and this one did not disappoint me! Any story of rising above one's unfortunate circumstances without placing blame is always inspiring and encouraging for me! Looking forward to Marlyana'a third memoir!

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cant wait of the next!

[Therese]

$0.0

[Kim Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!! Can't wait for the next!

[D. Quarles · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an amazing memoir. So uplifting and inspiring. I love Brown's voice and her writing draws the reader in so completely. I was riveted.

[Vince · Rating 5 out of 5]

Number 2 of 3. Looking forward to starting #3.

[Justine M Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read from this author, perhaps not quite so engaging as the first book, Overlay, but certainly worth buying and finding out how her life progressed.

[Stacy Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!!

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't read the first one but was still able to follow, will now go back and read the first

[Dee Halbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Enjoyed.

[Maryann Winship · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Book. Interesting. Didn't wrap my head around some things she survived!!!

[Carl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoy memoirs, more than anything, when you read about someone's life, you realize how alike we all are regardless of our experiences.
Unfortunately I did not love this one. Do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with it, the writing is good, it simply did not make me feel anything.
The writer had a fairly interesting life, seems to have had lots of boys and sex, good for her, the type life I imagine millions of women have lived but I can not say reading this book added anything to my life.
I have just finished reading it and there is not that one thing, that one story, that one feeling or lesson that sticks with me, changes my life in even some tiny way. I expect and need for it to do that for me to really like this or any book.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with her previous book in this trilogy, Marlayna Glynn Brown starts threads then abruptly moves on to another. Her story is engaging and she tells it
well, but so much is missing. One never really gets a sense of Marlayna's daily life. She mentions friends, but never really introduces them or describes
meeting them. They're suddenly there, then just as suddenly she's talking about someone else.

Abby Elvidge's performance is probably the best part of this audiobook. It's outstanding. Her handling of the narration keeps this story listenable through
to the end.

NOTE: I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for this unbiased review.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author has a gift for writing and an interesting story to tell. I loved that at the end, she gave us an update on many of the characters she interacted with along the way. She does seem to be a slow learner regarding men and her choices, in spite of often spelling out exactly where she went wrong. Also, she talks about how much she hated moving from place to place while growing up, but does the same thing with her own children. I'd love to see a book written by her children, to see if their story matches hers.

[Colette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little bit disappointed as I could not wait to read this after finishing the author's first memoir, Overlay, which was excellent. I enjoyed it still but just not as much as I expected and I'm not sure exactly what was missing in contrast to the first one but it just wasn't as compelling as I had hoped.

[Lucie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 to 3 stars. The first part of the book is very slow and written like a teenager. I disliked the info on Angels and the beginning of every chapter and skipped most of them. But it revs up in the latter part and I actually want to continue reading her next book to see what happens in her life.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved Marlayna's first book Overlay but this one lacked depth. I felt like someone was telling a story over lunch and I was not invested. I wish she wrote deeper about how she overcame her upbringing and more how it affected her decisions on marriage, mothering, and life itself.

[Karen Fiandaca · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good continuation of this three part memoir and also read the third which i can't remember the title of but by the end i got tired of it - an awful lot of self indulgence? and yet she did have very difficult childhood so who am I to judge what that does to choices one makes......