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Angel City Press

Angel City Press at the Los Angeles Public Library is dedicated to the publication of high-quality nonfiction books about SoCal and LA!
(17)

08/31/2024

The interiors of bowling alleys were much more than just the actual bowling lanes! Many of these alleys had bars and restaurants that were as much of a draw as the bowling itself.

Tapa cloth and thatch bring the tropics to the suburbs at the Kona Kove bar inside Stardust Bowl in West Covina, California.

For more of these beautiful bowling bars, pre-order a copy of “Bowlarama: The Architecture of Mid-Century Bowling" by Chris Nichols with Adriene Biondo.

Link in our bio!

(Photo credit: Armet Davis Newlove)

08/30/2024

For the “1.5 Generation” (refugees who were born in Vietnam but largely raised in the US), New Wave music became more than just a genre or a style; it was a powerful statement of identity and a catalyst of a creative counterculture for Vietnamese youth.

These young adults were grappling with the profound impact of the war, while trying to establish their new lives and make their mark around the world. The freedom they found through New Wave music, and the culture they built up around it (including the most fantastic fashion and hairdos you’ve ever seen), was a huge part of helping to heal deep seated wounds caused by the US/Vietnam war.

To learn more about New Wavers and their killer rides, check out “New Wave: Rebellion and Reinvention in the Vietnamese Diaspora” by Elizabeth Ai!

Link in our bio to pre-order your copy!

For more information on the documentary visit: newwavedocumentary.com

(Photo credit: Hank Wu)

08/29/2024

“The Autograph Book of L.A.” by Josh Kun is the third in his trilogy of books sponsored by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles and based on the Special Collections of the Los Angeles Public Library.

Leave it to MacArthur Fellow and culture communicator par excellence Kun to take the concept of “autographs” beyond the mere signing of names in little forget-me-not books. He looks at Los Angeles, his hometown, and sees the stamp of other people who also call it home. Suddenly imagery, graffiti, and yes—hand-written names—become the signature of a new Los Angeles, far beyond the one envisioned by Charles Lummis, the city librarian who created the LAPL autograph collection by soliciting a cache of famous people’s signatures on the library’s own embossed stationery.

With a foreword by Los Angeles City Librarian, John Szabo, and an introduction by world renowned graphic artist, Shepard Fairey, “The Autograph Book of L.A.” is a truly unique look at L.A. through the people who’ve left their signature on the city!

Grab a copy here: www.angelcitypress.com/products/abla

08/28/2024

Sometimes simple graphic art has the most impact! Featuring some elegant lines and shapes, this vintage napkin from the still operating Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel is a pristine example of how important the small branding touches to a restaurant and bar can be. Find this fantastic napkin and more in “Bar Keeps: A Collection of California's Best Cocktail Napkins” by Patrick Quinn.

www.angelcitypress.com/products/cnap

08/27/2024

If you like Programmatic architecture, where buildings are built with the intention of mimicking a specific motif or symbol to attract attention, LA is a great city for you! The Idle Hour Cafe in North Hollywood has gone through many restorations over the years, but its current iteration encompasses the spirit of wacky LA in the best way. Read all about it in “An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles” by David Gebhard, Robert Winter, and Robert Inman.

www.angelcitypress.com/products/rgwg

08/26/2024

California’s forests are among the most magical in the world. The costal redwoods of California are some of the most spectacular organisms on Earth, towering above the ground and creating a beautiful canopy of dappled light. This photo, “Redwoods California” by Willard E. Worden from 1910, shows that humans have long treasured these trees and their beauty.

Find more amazing photos like this in “A Country Called California” by Stephen White available at: https://www.angelcitypress.com/products/accc

08/24/2024

What does it mean to be a Californian? Where do the intersections of identity, culture, family history, and community meet? Read amazing essays and poetry on topics that delve deep into these concepts in the new book “Writing the Golden State” edited by Carribean Fragoza, Romeo Guzmán, and Samine Joudat with a foreword by Susan Straight.

With beautiful illustrations by Fernando Mendez Corona to accompany amazing works of literary insight such as “We Are Our Own Multitude: Los Angeles’s Black Panamanian Community” by Jenise Miller, this book is a meditation on what the state of California is to the people who call it home.

Link in our bio to order your own copy!

08/23/2024

Perhaps one of the most iconic figures of the Vietnamese New Wave music movement is none other than Lynda Trang Đài.

Lynda is often referred to as the “Vietnamese Madonna” due to her fantastic stage costumes and her stage persona. Lynda also appeared very consistently on the direct-to-video Vietnamese music variety show “Paris by Night”.

To learn more about Lynda Trang Đài and other amazing Vietnamese New Wave artists, check out “New Wave: Rebellion and Reinvention in the Vietnamese Diaspora” by Elizabeth Ai!

Link in our bio to pre-order your copy!

For more information on the documentary visit: newwavedocumentary.com

(Photo credit: Giáng Ngọc Productions)

08/22/2024

Bowling alleys often inspired great art and design, and “Bowlarama: The Architecture of Mid-Century Bowling" by Chris Nichols with Adriene Biondo certainly proves that correct!

Mosaic artist Murray Large created this study for an epic mosaic artwork at El Dorado Lanes (1959, Ron Cleveland) in the Westchester neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Concept art like this shows how much care and beauty went into curating bowling spaces during the mid-century design boom!

Link in our bio to grab a pre-order of this wonderful book.

(Photo credit: Carol Large Williams)

08/21/2024

Ever wonder what the auto dealerships of yesteryear were like? Wonder no more when you pre-order a copy of “Driving Force: Automobiles and the New American City”, by authors Darryl Holter and Stephen Gee. Packed with historic rarely seen images, like this one of the Ralph Hamlin dealership in 1905, you’ll be astounded at the magnitude that car dealerships and culture shaped the city.

Grab one at: www.angelcitypress.com/products/drfo

Image Credit: Ralph Hamlin Collection, Seaver Center

08/20/2024

Downtown LA has some of the coolest architecture in the city. Here we see one of the newer additions to the historic Civic Center area of DTLA, The Broad Museum. “An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles” by David Gebhard, Robert Winter, and Robert Inman discusses this addition to a high density area of museums and cultural venues, and highlights the “veil and vault” concept behind its design and how it highlights the preservation and display of the modern art collection inside.

www.angelcitypress.com/products/rgwg

08/19/2024

It’s a fact that food and the cultural practices surrounding it go hand in hand with our identities as people, and those places that serve that food also shape our lives. In “To Live and Dine in L.A.”, Josh Kun takes the Los Angeles Public Library’s Menu Collection and puts together a detailed history of restaurant menus in the city to show how much LA has been shaped by its food.

Produced as a collaboration with the Los Angeles Public Library and the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, this book features more than 200 menus—some dating back to the nineteenth century—culled from thousands in the Menu Collection of the Los Angeles Public Library.

With a foreword by Roy Choi, and filled with gorgeous menus of restaurants gone by, it’s the perfect book for a foodie and lover of all things Los Angeles! Pick up a menu and order away!

Pictured above is a piece of The Brown Derby’s 1953 menu showing a map of Los Angeles and its restaurant locations, courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library.

www.angelcitypress.com/products/ldla

08/17/2024

Have you been bowling recently? If you have, did you take a moment to consider how lucky you were to have your pins automatically set up for you?

The AMF model 82-10 automatic pinsetter created a sea change in the bowling industry when it was introduced in 1946, ending the pinboy era and bringing sophistication to the game.

Learn more about the history and changes that the sport of bowling has seen through the years by pre-ordering a copy of “Bowlarama: The Architecture of Mid-Century Bowling" by Chris Nichols with Adriene Biondo.

Link in our bio to grab yours!

(Photo credit: International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame)

08/15/2024

Angel City Press at the Los Angeles Public Library is proud to announce the publication of “New Wave: Rebellion and Reinvention in the Vietnamese Diaspora” by Elizabeth Ai!

“New Wave” is a story of joy and youthful defiance, showing how young Vietnamese refugees reinvented themselves in the West through music, fashion, and community. This momentous book, produced as a companion to the film “New Wave” directed, written, and produced by Elizabeth Ai, is an insight to the power of youth to define themselves and heal through painful wounds.

As Vietnamese refugees began new lives in the West in the wake of the US/Vietnam war, a generation of youth struggled to adjust on foreign soil. Many of these young people found a community and a new identity in New Wave music, a type of synth-pop called Euro Disco, that became enormously popular throughout the community. “New Wave” celebrates the rebellion, reinvention, and rebirth of joy in this young generation in cultural limbo. Featuring essays from prominent Vietnamese scholars, critics, and stars, New Wave is a love letter to the first generation of Vietnamese punks and rebels who came of age in the 1980s.

Combining rare archival images from New Wave artists, community members, fans, and record labels, the book is a much-needed record of photographs and ephemera that were nearly lost to time. “New Wave” pulls these elements together in a bold, innovative design and layout by Mỹ Linh Triệu Nguyễn, an award-winning, second-generation Chinese Vietnamese American designer who is the founder and creative director of STUDIO LHOOQ.

Link in our bio to pre-order your copy!

For more information on the documentary visit: newwavedocumentary.com

08/14/2024

Known as “The Architect to the Stars,” Paul Revere Williams was a Los Angeles native who built a wildly successful career as an architect decades before the Civil Rights Movement. He designed municipal buildings and private homes as well as banks, churches, hospitals, and university halls. In 1923, Williams became the first Black member of the American Institute of Architects. In 2017, nearly forty years after his death, he became the first Black recipient of the AIA Gold Medal.

Explore beautiful photographs of Paul Revere Williams work in “Regarding Paul R. Williams: A Photographer’s View”, where artist Janna Ireland captures Williams’ brilliance in a series of intimate black-and-white photographs, giving the reader a vision of his work that is both universal and highly personal. Pictured above is Seaview Community, Rancho Palos Verdes, 2018 courtesy of Janna Ireland.

angelcitypress.com/products/will

08/13/2024

In “Common Ground: Multifamily Housing in Los Angeles” by Frances Anderton, there are numerous examples of gorgeous buildings in Los Angeles that have long histories!

For example, shown here is the Bryson Apartment-Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard, built in 1913. Built in a gorgeous Beaux style, it has been a consistent part of the apartment lifestyle of Los Angeles. Despite some ups and downs over time, it has been designated a Historic Cultural Monument to ensure its continued protection.

Learn more about the history of multifamily housing and its importance to the city of Los Angeles in “Common Ground” and pick up a copy here: www.angelcitypress.com/products/cogr

Photo Credit: Art Gray

08/12/2024

Are you traveling this summer? Fancy a pre-flight cocktail?

In “Bar Keeps: A Collection of California's Best Cocktail Napkins” by Patrick Quinn you can live your vintage bar and restaurant fantasy with amazing graphical cocktail napkins, such as this one from the Sky Room at what was once known as the Lockheed Air Terminal (which has been known by many names but is now known as the Hollywood Burbank Airport).

Pick up a copy at: https://www.angelcitypress.com/products/cnap

08/10/2024

Happy National Bowling Day! Bowling is such an iconic pastime in the USA, and the sport has such a fascinating history and exciting future!

You can learn all about that history and the beautiful design and architecture of bowling alleys in “Bowlarama: The Architecture of Mid-Century Bowling" by Chris Nichols with Adriene Biondo.

This book is jam packed with amazing vintage photographs of wonderful bowling alleys and the fun that was had within them! From funky signage, to groovy cafes, these sporting venues are delightful to behold and learn about. Pictured here is Linbrook Bowl (1958, Schwager, Desatoff & Henderson) where a large-scale neon extravaganza sign still revolves into the wee hours.

Will you be bowling today in celebration of National Bowling Day? Pre-order a copy of “Bowlarama” at the link in our bio to keep the celebration going!

(Photo credit: John Eng)

08/09/2024

Join Grand Performances for a special poetry show hosted by poet and writer Carribean Fragoza!

Carribbean Fragoza has helped to select poets and writers who will elucidate the feeling of “home” and the diverse and complex emotions it evokes in a city as complicated as Los Angeles. Come and enjoy the performances, and pick up a copy of the new book “Writing the Golden State” edited by Carribean Fragoza, Romeo Guzmán, and Samine Joudat with a foreword by Susan Straight.

RSVP at the link in our bio or more information visit: www.grandperformances.org/events/poetry-w-carribean-fragoza

LA STORIES: HOME w/ CARRIBEAN FRAGOZA
Friday, August 16, 2024
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Grand Performances
350 South Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA, 90071

08/08/2024

The Fleetwood Center in Tarzana is a great example of Programmatic architecture . According to “An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles” by David Gebhard, Robert Winter, and Robert Inman, this building representing a Cadillac was once painted a pretty pink and could also be considered Postmodern, and it most certainly strikes a visual impact.

www.angelcitypress.com/products/rgwg

08/07/2024

The Grauman’s Chinese Theatre animated neon dragons are icons of the neon world, seen here back in their glory days! These dragons welcomed visitors to one of the most famous theaters in all of Hollywood, and added a panache to the facade of the theater that attracted countless visitors and celebrities over the years. Now one of the dragons is housed at the Museum of Neon Art in Glendale, where you can see it lit up in all its splendor.

Learn more about these stunning creatures in “Hollywood Signs” by Kathy Kikkert!
www.angelcitypress.com/products/hosi

Image credit: Kurt Wahlner Collection

08/06/2024

This gorgeously colored driveway and gathering space at St. Elmo’s Village is just the sort of thing that makes living in multi-family housing and complexes attractive and unique! In “Common Ground: Multifamily Housing in Los Angeles” by Frances Anderton, shared spaces are the eclectic part of multifamily housing that really has a big impact on their community.

Learn more about the history of multifamily housing and its importance to the city of Los Angeles in “Common Ground” and pick up a copy here: www.angelcitypress.com/products/cogr

Photo Credit: Art Gray

08/05/2024

Googie Modern: Architectural Drawings of Armet Davis Newlove, by Michael Murphy and Alan Hess, showcases beautiful architectural marvels such as this concept art for a Bob’s Big Boy location in Fresno, CA circa 1962!

The two tapered, perpendicular spires supporting the sign of this Bob’s in Fresno became a standard feature of the curved-roof prototypes for Bob’s Big Boy restaurants.

www.angelcitypress.com/products/gomo

08/03/2024

“After/Image: Los Angeles Outside the Frame” by Lynell George is the vision of Los Angeles as seen through one of the city’s greatest supporters. “After/Image” is the result of George’s years of contemplating and writing about the arts, culture, and social issues of Los Angeles, always with an emphasis on place and the identity of the people who live in—or leave—L.A.

Lynell George shot all of the images in this fantastic book, including this one of a young woman waiting for her train at Union Station, which can be found alongside more beautiful L.A. photography in “After/Image: Los Angeles Outside the Frame”.

www.angelcitypress.com/products/aila

08/02/2024

Would you believe that Howard Hughes’ H-4 Hercules (commonly known as the “Spruce Goose”) was shipped across LA in pieces as it was being built and then assembled in Long Beach. This fascinating photo of that movement of the hull is from 1946, and can be found in all its glory in “A Country Called California” by Stephen White.

www.angelcitypress.com/products/accc

08/01/2024

Coming out September 10, 2024, “Bowlarama: The Architecture of Mid-Century Bowling" by Chris Nichols with Adriene Biondo, is a true strike of a book!

This delightful book takes aim at the obsession that swept the post-war nation: bowling! More than just a sport or a hobby, bowling became the ultimate modern lifestyle for Americans savoring the boom years that followed World War II.

Bowling alleys were modern palaces; companies constantly aimed to outdo each other, whether competing for the most spectacular architecture, the most luxurious lanes, the snazziest bowling balls, or the most exciting refreshments they could offer. A place to gather with friends and play a game that you couldn’t just set up in your own home, bowling alleys created a third place outside of the home and work that allowed for community and entertainment to develop in cities across the country.

The beautiful lanes and balls that roll down to strike those pins are often housed in equally beautiful and unique buildings. “Bowlarama” highlights many of these and their histories, often designed in Modern, Streamline Moderne, and Googie style showing off their eye-catching architecture to attract patrons. Unfortunately, many of these bowling alleys are no longer standing but their influence and iconic place in American cultural history is celebrated in this book.

“Bowlarama” brings back—in living color—all the excitement in its lavishly illustrated pages, packed with vintage photographs, exciting ephemera, and detailed hand-drawn architectural renderings that capture all the optimism, enthusiasm, and joie de vivre of the spirit of bowling and its legacy.

Pre-order at the link in our bio!

07/29/2024

Did you know there’s a piece of Downtown in the San Fernando Valley? According to “An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles” by David Gebhard, Robert Winter, and Robert Inman, the Platt Office Building on Sherman Way in Reseda was constructed with parts of buildings from the Bunker Hill neighborhood of DTLA. It’s certainly an eye catching and unique Victorian style building in the middle of the Valley!

www.angelcitypress.com/products/rgwg

07/27/2024

Orie Mio, second from left, after arriving on Terminal Island at age eighteen, became a mother to four children and helped her husband open two cafés. Her family and friends stand in front of the first Mio Café, located at 777 Tuna Street. Circa 1928.

The stories of these families can be found in “Terminal Island: Lost Communities on America's Edge”, by Naomi Hirahara and Geraldine Knatz, with a foreword by William Deverell and an afterword by George Takei.

Learn more at: www.angelcitypress.com/products/tilh

07/26/2024

Los Angeles has always been a cocktail city! The myriad of bars and restaurants in the city have always competed for supremacy of the best and the biggest. Pictured here is Willard’s cocktail menu, showing off the beautiful illustrations and design of their sophisticated offerings!

More amazing menus from historic LA restaurants can be found in “To Live and Dine in L.A.: Menus and the Making of the Modern City” by Josh Kun. Check it out to learn more amazing details about restaurants from years past!

www.angelcitypress.com/products/ldla

07/25/2024

Many of us wish to flee to the forest and mountains when temperatures get hot here in Southern California. Capitalizing on that idyllic concept of a fishing club, the Rainbow Angling Club once existed in Azusa and was indeed a place where you could fish! The space was a popular fishing spot with an associated restaurant, but was unfortunately closed after a fire damaged the space in 1964.

Check out more in “Bar Keeps: A Collection of California's Best Cocktail Napkins” by Patrick Quinn for more napkins from restaurants and bars of all kinds!

www.angelcitypress.com/products/cnap

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Thanks to Tara Lynn Wagner and Spectrum News 1 for the feature on ACP becoming a part of the LA Public Library! #angelcitypress #library #welovela

“Hollywood Chinese” by @arthurdongfilm traces the fascinating history of the Chinese in American cinema, from the earliest days of film to the present. #hollywood #chinese #hollywoodhistory #hollywoodchinese #book #bookstagram #lahistory #angelcitypress

Thanks to @reparations.club for recently hosting @kaosnetworkz and @blakinfinite in a conversation moderated by @essenceh! It was a wonderful evening full of great insights into “KAOS Theory” and the magic imbued in it! It’s always wonderful to hear Ben and Taj speak on their passion for this book! #kaostheory #kaosnetwork #afrokosmicark

See Benno Herz and Michaela Ullmann at Vroman's

📆 Tomorrow! 8/24 at Vroman's Bookstore — The first public discussion of the new book, "Thomas Mann's Los Angeles: Stories from Exile 1940-1952." Join us for a conversation between co-editor Benno Herz (Program Director, Thomas Mann House) and contributor Michaela Ullmann, Exile Studies Librarian with University of Southern California Special Collection. "Thomas Mann's Los Angeles" paints a vivid portrait of the renowned writer's experience through the people and places that helped shape it. Two of these people, Mann's brother Heinrich and sister-in-law Nelly, have a particularly poignant story you won't want to miss. Hear it straight from Michaela, who wrote about them for the book. She and Benno will also discuss the book's origins as a pandemic project and what we can learn from the L.A. community of exiles who fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s and '40s. We hope to see you there! Wednesday, August 24, 7pm Vroman's Bookstore 695 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena 📚Get your copy now for them to sign: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/benno-herz-presents-thomas-manns-los-angeles 💬 More from the Thomas Mann House: https://vatmh.org/en/eventreader/thomas-mann-39-s-los-angeles-discussion-with-michaela-ullman-and-benno-herz.html #mannsla #losangeles #thomasmann #exile #emigres #weimaronthepacific #storiesfromexile

Rescheduled for August 24 at Vroman's Bookstore! The first public discussion of the new book "Thomas Mann's Los Angeles: Stories from Exile 1940-1952." Co-editor Benno Herz, Program Director of the Thomas Mann House, will talk with Michaela Ullman, Exile Studies Librarian at USC Libraries. They'll discuss the book's pandemic origins, Michaela's stirring essay on Nelly and Heinrich Mann, and L.A.'s remarkable community of exiles fleeing Nazi Germany in the 1930s and '40s. We hope to see you there! Wednesday, August 24, 7pm Vroman's Bookstore 695 E. Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena More info at https://www.vatmh.org/en/eventreader/thomas-mann-39-s-los-angeles-discussion-with-michaela-ullman-and-benno-herz.html

Flip through "Googie Modern"

📅 Event alert! If you haven't yet had the joy of seeing Michael Murphy and Alan Hess share the wonder that is Googie architecture (or if, like us, you can't get enough Googie), you're in luck—you have two chances next week! Have a ball and get the perfect last-minute 🎁 Father's Day gift—Googie Modern: Architectural Drawings of Armet Davis Newlove—signed to Dad by the authors! 🖥 Virtual: Thursday, June 16, 7pm Los Feliz Branch - Los Angeles Public Library Architecture & Beyond Series (last event of the season!) With Friends of Los Feliz Library ➡ For Zoom link, email [email protected] with "A&B" in the subject line 🚀 In person: Saturday, June 18, 4pm Village Well Books & Coffee 9900 Culver Blvd. 1B, Culver City In conversation with Thomas Aujero Small ➡ https://shop.villagewell.com/events See you in the cloud or Culver City! 🎞Thanks to Michael Murphy for the fab video! 📙 https://www.angelcitypress.com/products/gomo

🥳 Happy birthday to Orson Welles, still baby-faced at 107! Celebrate with your very own copy of "Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker's Journey," THE book on the making of this masterpiece - and the shenans that nearly kept it from coming out. 🎬 bit.ly/kane-lebo 📸 Wikimedia Commons #OrsonWelles #CitizenKane #filmhistory #oldhollywood #filmbooks #todaysbirthday #happybirthday

Los Angeles City Hall

Celebrating the re-lighting of the original Brown Derby sign at the Museum of Neon Art, and the publication of SPECTACULAR ILLUMINATION by Tom Zimmerman with J. Eric Lynxwiler.

Come on down and join us in booth 119 at the LA Times Festival of Books!

We are thrilled that John Parkinson Square was dedicated today. Hats off to Tom LaBonge and ICONIC VISION author Stephen Gee for championing the architect of our city. Come to Union Station's 75th anniversary celebration this Saturday (yes, Parkinson designed that too...) to meet Stephen and LOS ANGELES UNION STATION: TRACKS TO THE FUTURE author William Bradley. 'Board!