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An exclusive look at what we\u2019re reading, book club events and our latest author interviews. <\/p>\n
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service<\/a>, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy<\/a> such as personalizing your experience and ads. <\/p>\n \u270d\ufe0f Author Chat<\/p>\n Freddie Otash has been something of a twisted muse for you. In <\/b>\u201cRed Sheet,\u201d<\/b><\/a> Otash is an LAPD detective trying to smoke out Communist sleeper cells in Kennedy-era L.A. He was, in fact, a real person, a notorious Hollywood fixer. How did you first become aware of him? <\/b><\/p>\n I had seen a documentary about his specious role in the cover-up caper surrounding Marilyn Monroe\u2019s death. I\u2019d been hearing about him for years, and then I created the Jack Vincennes character who worked for scandal magazines in my book \u201cL.A. Confidential,\u201d<\/b><\/a> played by the scurrilous Kevin Spacey in the vastly overrated movie of the same name.<\/p>\n Did you ever meet him?<\/b><\/p>\n Years ago I met a producer named James B. Harris, who produced all the old Stanley Kubrick movies and had optioned one of my early books called \u201cBlood on the Moon.\u201d<\/b><\/a> I asked him if he knew Freddie Otash, and he said everyone in Hollywood knew Freddie Otash. I was planning my novel \u201cAmerican Tabloid\u201d<\/b><\/a> and so I arranged to meet him. He was unpleasant and charmless and way past his prime. I spent some time with him in Miami, where he was living in a place called the Jockey Club, and I had to listen to him talk about his many conquests of the world\u2019s most beautiful and desirable women. I didn\u2019t believe a word of it.<\/p>\n But he did have useful stories, I\u2019m assuming. <\/b><\/p>\n Otash I used for the character Pete Bondurant in \u201cAmerican Tabloid.\u201d<\/b><\/a> We entered into a deal whereby I would pay him 10% of what Knopf was paying me in exchange for him keeping his mouth shut. He has become that valuable literary artifact: the great detective.<\/p>\n \u201cRed Sheet: A Novel\u201d by James Ellroy<\/p>\n (Knopf)<\/p>\n Your book deals with a piece of legislation called the Rumford Act that would tear down the city\u2019s racist racial housing covenants in 1963, but the act in \u201962 had enemies in high places, namely Mayor Sam Yorty and his power base. You were 14 in L.A. in 1962. Did you feel this racial tension?<\/b><\/p>\n I remember vividly how the world was changing. I knew there was de facto segregation in housing. I remember Nixon\u2019s pathetic campaign for governor in 1962. But I remember racial barriers breaking down, particularly in school. Just talking with Black kids in school, because why wouldn\u2019t you? And I had been this dumb, bigoted kid.<\/p>\n What\u2019s interesting about the characters in your book is that their ideological alliances are quite fluid, depending on the circumstances. Communists are married to John Birchers, who may be, in fact, red-diaper babies, and so on. <\/b><\/p>\n People are endlessly complex. Going back to Freddie Otash again. He knew Tom Bradley in the \u201840s, when Bradley was a cop. And Freddie becomes a bag man for the civil rights movement, and the Rumford Act in particular. He\u2019s about the most unlikely guy you would expect to support civil rights. I wanted to show [how] complex human beings and their beliefs can be, and this book is a primer on that.<\/p>\n You are so closely associated with Los Angeles, and you lived here for most of your life. Why do you live in Denver now?<\/b><\/p>\n Helen Knode is my all-time life partner, who is also my second ex-wife. Ten years ago, we decided to get back together, but she was living in Colorado. She came up with the idea of me getting a loft in her building, and we would have the keys to each other\u2019s places, and that\u2019s why I did it. I like it in Denver, though it\u2019s quite hot at the moment.<\/p>\n Do you miss L.A? What are you feeling about the city now?<\/b><\/p>\n I was just there on my book tour. I feel like it\u2019s a complete dump. It\u2019s just totally run-down. When I got off the airplane, I noticed a smog layer, so smog is back. I saw many young, odd-looking, overly adorned young people. I don\u2019t know. \u2026 It\u2019s a kid\u2019s town now, to a certain extent.<\/p>\n This Q&A was edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcf0 The Week(s) in Books Country music performer Kenny Chesney sat down with Holly Gleason, the co-author of his new memoir, to talk about writing the book.<\/p>\n (Jill Trunnell)<\/p>\n Greg Sarris is the chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria in Sonoma County. He\u2019s also an acclaimed novelist whose his first book in 28 years, \u201cThe Last Human Bear,\u201d<\/b><\/a> is loosely based on the life and teachings of Pomo spiritual leader Mabel McKay, a constant lodestar for Sarris. \u201cAn American Indian woman is as richly complicated as anybody else. I wanted to show this rich and complicated character who\u2019s negotiated a history that she\u2019s showing you,\u201d Sarris tells Maddie Connors. <\/a> <\/p>\n In \u201cDaughters of the Sun and Moon,\u201d<\/b><\/a> author Lisa See excavates the events surrounding the Chinese Massacre of 1871. In doing so, she also digs into her own Chinese heritage in L.A. \u201cMy great-grandfather\u2019s fourth wife was 16 when he brought her here, and she was never let out,\u201d See tells Emily St. Martin<\/a>. \u201cMy mom used to say these women would all get together, and she used to describe it as birds twittering together, because they actually had this opportunity to be with each other, but on really very rare occasions.\u201d<\/p>\n Fear not, literary Cassandras: Authors can still generate online heat, thanks to BookTok and other social media outlets. So much so that more books are being adapted into streaming content than ever before. \u201cWith the advent of BookTok, it allows you to have so much social chatter around these authors,\u201d producer Bryan Unkeless tells Gary Goldstein<\/a>. \u201cThey\u2019re becoming new rock stars, in a way.\u201d<\/p>\n Finally, Kenny Chesney sat down with Holly Gleason<\/a> to discuss their collaboration on \u201cHeart Life Music,\u201d<\/b><\/a> Chesney\u2019s new memoir. \u201cI didn\u2019t know if there was a story there,\u201d the country megastar tells Gleason. \u201cOver time you wore me down, to make me pause and \u2026 reflect.\u201d<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcd6 Bookstore Faves The interior of Counterpoint Records & Books.<\/p>\n (David Jones)<\/p>\n In a city that has so often seen its old-school retail businesses turned into nail salons and real estate offices, Counterpoint Records & Books remains an outlier. Originally established in 1979 by John and Susan Polifronio, the store on Franklin Avenue has remained, even as many of its nearby store-mates have shuttered, offering a well-curated selection of secondhand books and records from every conceivable genre. I chatted with David Jones, who is one of the owners of the Franklin Avenue store, about Counterpoint\u2019s enduring success.<\/p>\n Counterpoint is an Eastside institution, but businesses along your strip on Franklin have gone under while you have survived. What is the secret to your longevity? <\/b><\/p>\n Firstly, we are lucky enough to own the building we do business in, which has given us a lot of freedom to be able to pursue doing business our way. That didn\u2019t happen until we were in business for almost 20 years, but now in our 47th year we feel lucky to be able to continue to provide a physical, in-person shopping experience. I think our success is tied to this. People are looking for an experience away from their screens, and I think we provide that without being anachronistic or nostalgic by keeping up with and stocking contemporary music, digital media and all types of books.<\/p>\n Is your clientele mostly local? I\u2019m guessing it\u2019s a multigenerational clientele, given the store\u2019s long history. <\/b><\/p>\n We definitely have a younger demographic these days, but we have a very intergenerational staff, and I think that attracts an all ages clientele. We meet folks daily from all over the world as a destination that people return to and tell their friends about. I think word-of-mouth is our greatest form of outreach. People say we feel special to them, as if they\u2019ve stumbled onto a secret by shopping here. It\u2019s something I love and am very proud of.<\/p>\n How have books maintained their staying power despite the countless distractions of daily life?<\/b><\/p>\n I think of it as one of life\u2019s greatest luxuries. To be honest, I never thought too much about the staying power of books until the pandemic. During that time, people would come in and thank us for being open and a place they could come to escape what was happening. It was a real turning point for me. I started to think more about the importance of what we do and how much of an effect it has on people. I never took what we do for granted, but it gave me a sense of urgency that I didn\u2019t quite have before.<\/p>\n![\""Red](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782574277_40_.jpeg\")
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