“Overdrive,” “Never Built Los Angeles” and “Songs in the Key of Los Angeles” (Book review, 2014)

Books reviewed:

• Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future, 1940-1990. Edited by Wim de Wit and Christopher Alexander. Getty Research Institute, 2013.
• Never Built Los Angeles. Edited by Greg Goldin and Sam Lubell. Metropolis Books, 2013.
• Kun, Josh. Songs in the Key of Los Angeles. Angel City Press, 2013.

Appears in Southern California Quarterly, 96(2): 235-239.

Background: This omnibus review looks at three books that all, in their own ways, explore representations and imagations of the urban space/identity of Los Angeles. The first two are primarily focused on the city’s architectural history (real and imagined) while the last looks at early 20th century sheet music but all three engage the reader in constructions of Los Angeles in time, space (and sound).