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LETTERS FROM L.A.: BATHING WITH JOAN
Separated by 50 years but united by Hollywood, wildfires, and the endless hum of ‘the deal,’ two writers share a bath in Los Angeles. On Monday I took a bath with Joan Didion. She was gracious, took the faucet end. She didn’t mind my nudity, carried on talking as if nothing unusual was going on,…
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IS RICK CARUSO THE LAST BEST HOPE FOR SAVING LA?
Rick Caruso may not be the last best hope for saving Los Angeles, as some of his faithful followers insist, but he does offer a hope and a vision — and you can trust that you won’t read about him skirting politica, ethics laws and being carted off to prison or thereabouts like too many…
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HOW FERNANDO WON THE HEARTS OF LA
Fernandomania became a cultural phenomenon in 1980s Los Angeles as a young Mexican left-hander became the toast of the city and ultimately an icon as big as any matinee Idol.
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Flip-Flop or Flip-Forward?
What Kamala Harris needs to do to win and possibly win Pennsylvania, which is the Mecca of fracking.
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GAME, SET, MATCH, CHAMPIONSHIP, MR. TRUMP
Maybe it’s because I’d been vegging out watching every single moment of the previous fortnite of Wimbledon, that the instant I saw a bleeding, wounded Donald Trump rise up defiantly, waving a clenched fist and chanting “Fight! Fight!” that my first instinct was to say, “Game, Set & Championship. Mr. Trump.”
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If Marilyn Had Been the Ultimate Ferrari…
If Marilyn Had Been a Ferrari… Is the LA monthly.org story that one the 2024 Southern California Journalism prize for best entertainment feature writing for author Tony Castro.
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The Santa Anas
More than half a century after publishing the work that established her reputation as a gimlet-eyed cultural critic — Slouching Towards Bethlehem — Joan Didion continues to be an outsize influence and figure of fascination in the literary world and among Angelenos.
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ALEJANDRA CAMPOVERDI’S ‘FIRST GEN’: A TALE OF STRIFE AND SUCCESS
NOW OUT IN PAPERBACK! Alejandra Campoverdi explores many things familiar to first-generation kids: the invisible inheritances passed onto us from our family, being a “parentified child,” imposter syndrome, balancing two cultural identities, and guilt for breaking away from our families in some way. ALEJANDRA CAMPOVERDI HAS BEEN A CHILD on welfare, a White House aide to…
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Alatorre: ‘I Am Not The Apostle’
The Richard Alatorre I knew, the Richard Alatorre who said he had to change the world — and to a great degree, he did just that… that Richard Alatorre dramatically altered the political landscape for Latinos in California and ultimately became The Godfather of Latino Politics. By TONY CASTRO September 14, 2023 IT IS MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY IN…
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Living in the Shadow of Ruben Salazar
On Aug. 29, 1970, the National Chicano Moratorium in East Los Angeles protested the disproportionately high casualties among Latinos in Vietnam — but led to the tragic police shooting death of acclaimed Los Angeles Times columnist Ruben Salazar.
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‘PRESIDENT’ HARRIS… THE ULTIMATE POSSIBILITY
If He Wins, Joe Biden Will Soon Turn 82 Not long after leaving office, the 38th president of the United States imagined a scenario in which a future president might tragically die in office, creating the opportunity for his vice president — possibly a woman — to make history. Almost a decade after he had left…
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IT’S A MIRACLE I’M A WRITER
Friends often marvel that I’ve built a life with words. They shake their heads and say, “It’s a miracle you’re a writer.” Honestly, they’re not wrong.
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THE DREAM THAT BROKE MY HEART: MY BRIEF, BEAUTIFUL, AND UTTERLY ABSURD LOVE AFFAIR WITH MILEY CYRUS
Miley Cyrus fell in love with me at Canter’s Deli, of all places, because where else would one find true love at dawn? The air smelled of pastrami and ambition. The fluorescent lighting cast a glow best described as “early morning mugshot”…
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LARRY MCMURTRY: THE ‘MINOR REGIONAL NOVELIST’ WORTHY OF THE NOBEL PRIZE
‘Terms of Endearment’ followed ‘The Last Picture Show’ with great fanfare, but it was his Pulitzer Prize-winning ‘Lonesome Dove’ that cemented his legacy as one of America’s best writers The list of Texans that have spent their writing lives chronicling their roots is rather long and impressive, and includes names like Dobie, Webb and Graves.…
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Demi Losing the Best Actress Oscar to Mikey Madison is Basically the Plot of ‘The Substance’
Disappointed that the 62-year-old Demi Moore lost the Oscar for Best Actress to a woman more than half her age? You’re not alone. In a Twitter post that has already been viewed more than five million times, a observed what should have been the obvious: “Demi Moore losing to Mikey Madison is basically the plot of ‘The Substance’!
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MY FABULOUS LIFE AT THE BARN
One of Hollywood’s Most Significant Landmarks Still Stands In a city where they think nothing of knocking down Pickfair, bulldozing the Garden of Allah and destroying the streamline moderne Pan Pacific Auditorium, it’s almost quaint that the most significant building in Hollywood history is a nondescript barn. I gave tours at the Barn for a…
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MY LIFE BREAKING THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE WITH JIM MORRISON
IT’S AMAZING WHAT can happen when you live right off the Sunset Strip. About 15 years ago on a warm balmy December night, I was in my living room of my apartment, watching a movie on my laptop when suddenly a breeze blew into my window. I was startled and then inexplicably began to say in…
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THE LAST REAL PUPPETEER OF LOS ANGELES
Sid and Marty Krofft.hired and trained me, andI became a Puppeteer. I performed a puppet show they created called “Les Poupées de Paris.” We had a 200-seat theater in West Hollywood called PJ’s.
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MY LIFE AS MARILYN, MY DEAD OLDER SISTER
The LA Monthly interview with actress Catherine Hicks, who portrayed Marilyn Monroe in the 1980 TV feature Marilyn: The Untold Story as well as in the Arthur Miller play After The Fall and also Bus Stop on the stage By Justin Bozung ACTRESS CATHERINE HICKS made a solid career for herself in Hollywood but it was her unforgettable Emmy nominated role…
LA Monthly
The National Magazine of Los Angeles