SSR: Bright Shiny Morning

By far one of the best fiction books I've ever read, this book by James Frey is all about Los Angeles. Rather than one person as the main character, the city is, and is the only thing constant throughout the whole book. The book consists of several stories of people's lives in Los Angeles, and there are many different characters, some who disappear after a page, and some who remain in the novel until the very end.They range from rich actors to bums, some have normal stories, while others have insanely weird and interesting stories. The stories explain how they got to LA, why they are there, and what is going on in their lives, and though there is no overall plot, there is an overall image you get in your mind after reading this book. It shows the unique personality of a huge and busy city. Along with this, there are facts about Los Angeles at the beginning of each chapter, starting with the settlement of the Los Angeles area by Mexicans to present day facts about the city.It is a unique writing style the author uses, and is hard to describe unless you read it, but is definitely one of the big reasons why this book is so interesting and unique. By the end of this book, I guarantee you will have learned a lot about the all too famous city of Los Angeles. You get a perfect image of modern day Los Angeles and all the weirdos, rich, and normal people in it. This book is raw, and has very vivid imagery which is another reason I love it. The stories are all believeable, and don't follow the typical "disney-happily ever after" style that most American fiction does. This book to me is one of a kind, and a MUST READ! So do it! It's 500 pages, not too long, not too short. "It[Los Angeles] calls to them, calls, and they cannot say no."-from Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey. A cool fact about LA from this book: If Los Angeles became its own country, it would have the 15th largest economy in the world.
LA as seen from the 101 freeway by: Me (fall 2008)