"Even little things went comically awry. Take the leisure suit, which did for men's fashion what Lt. William Calley did for the thatched hut." The seventies in a nutshell, I cringe-laughed for a solid day. This is a collection of essays (the quote above is from Michael Lazarou's essay, "Heart of Dorkness: How Dr. Demento Saved My Bony, White Ass") by a bunch of different people on their experiences in LA in the seventies. It's crazy, funny, sad, weird and informative all at the same time. Loved

Its been a while since I wrote a review, but felt compelled to rant a little about this anthology of short stories by David Kukoff. I purchased this book as a "souvenir" of sorts after visiting the amazing "Last Bookstore" in downtown Los Angeles. While I have lived in the DC area for a long time, LA is my hometown, but in all my years, I'd never read a book about it. The evocative cover (there are blocks of avocado, harvest yellow and almond on the back, reminding me instantly of the kitchen ap...

I loved this book. I'm a sucker for some good fun, weird, and wild 70s stories and this had everything I could have wanted. It was a great read for someone who had just moved to LA a year an a half ago, and I love stuff like this to get a real picture of what the history of my new home looked like. And let's face it, I've already exhausted all of my literature on 70s New York. I haven't decided which I prefer just yet.

great subject matter, but discouraging how few essays were written by women.

The 70'sI remember the brown beret stories growing up from my cousins who thought they were revolutionaries but really gang bangers. The Hillside Strangled case because my sister knew one of the killers, which one no clue . And the infamous Z channel. All the stories brought back many memories.

My son bought me this book for my birthday, which means that he either knows me much better than I thought or I am just very obvious.I was born in 1970 and dreamed of living in Los Angeles since the first episodes of "Emergency" graced our Omaha TV screen in 1972. This book is filled with stories of people like me, mostly from New York, but all with a hankering to figure out the mysteries inside L.A..I've lived and explored here for almost thirty years and I'm still figuring. This book is a sort...

belongs on the shelf next to Didion

This is a collection of essays providing both facts and insights into Los Angeles in the 1970s. Though a couple of the essays are a bit dry in style, the rest are highly engaging, full of personality, and told in their own unique voice. Some are poetically written while one is an actual poem. All of them, pieced together, beautifully reflect the many facets of life in LA at that time, giving an outsider a glimpse behind the myths and the veneers.

American cities, the moment when history and eras change? California. Sign me the f-up. Now.

A fine collection of articles looking at various facets of life in L. A. in the 70's. Not all pieces are compelling but there is enough here to make for a satisfying read.

The usual hot-to-medium-to-cold consistency when it comes to essay anthologies, but a promising idea nevertheless, with two or three real highlights. Always interesting to see what happens when you take a bunch of writers of various forms and skills, give them an assignment ("LA in the 1970s When You Were Young") and see what they come up with (or how wildly they stray from the basic idea). My favorite was Joel Drucker's "The Making of a (Tennis) Player."

This is an amazing book of essays by a variety of writers (including a cop and a porn producer) that capture the 1970s as lived in LA. The breadth of topics include crime, show biz, performance art, the punk scene, and much more. The authors are a multicultural mix. These were the bad old days. Drug induced haze, the spirit of the 60s fading. A time I'm somewhat nostalgic for even as I realize what a struggle the era was. The writing here brings it all back.

I forget how I stumbled onto this collection of short stories, but I'm so glad I did. Fellow Angelenos who feel great nostalgia for the 70s (as I do), this is a must read. For everyone else, it's still a great read!

“My life began to take on the character of the city — a dreamy, jasminey, carbon monoxide haze.” *That quote’s from Bruce Ferber’s essay, “Bright Lights, B-City” — one of the many essays in this anthology, Los Angeles in the 1970s: Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine. It paints a picture of LA that’s at once familiar (Tommy’s!) and different (really really bad smog situation!) — with contributions from people like The Doors’ John Densmore. The collection gets a bit repetitive — That Woody Allen quo...

Eclectic collection of short pieces, mostly memoirs, recapturing L.A. in the 1970's. As the authors attest, it was a time at once heady, hedonistic, and harrowing. It's a fast-moving time machine, editor David Kukoff keeping the journey zippy, edgy, and fun.

Edited by writer David Kukoff, Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine is a collection of essays, stories, poems, and photos that recall Los Angeles in the 1970s—back during the days of the Hillside Strangler and the energy crisis. When the music industry was booming, and you could purchase a corner lot home in Venice for $30,000. Family empowerment could be discovered through skateboarding, and The Doors were making the “L.A. Woman” a glittering, iconic, and enduring image for the ages.It was a decade...

This eclectic collection of essays started off strong with a fun, nostalgic entry by Joe Donnelly (skateboarding and surfing) and poignant ones by Dana Johnson (Patty Hearst, the SLA and the cops) and Deanne Stillman (freeways). But the quality tapered off in the latter half of the book. Still, there are a lot of gems to be found, from Matthew Specktor, Lynell George and Jim Natal, plus a great photo essay (cruising on Van Nuys) and an oral history of the Innovative Program School at University

I found this collection hit or miss. I think I read about 1/2 the stories and just kinda skimmed the others.

a total Flashback-- short stories