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Ed Ruscha’s Plays on Words Are As Relevant As Ever

ed ruscha, painting, standard station
15 new books for may 2024, all fours, and then and then what else, california snakes, cecilia, the default world, devils best trick, exhibit, return of ellie black the z word, perfume and pain, the red grove, love is a burning thing, reading the room, writers on the west
WHAT TO READ RIGHT NOW

15 New Books for May

This month, we’ve got our eyes on The Red Grove, Love Is a Burning Thing, Reading the Room, and 12 other titles by writers on the West.

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a dog sitting at a table, outdoor cafe, dogs at restaurants
EXPERT ADVICE

Ask a Californian: When Restaurants Go to the Dogs

What’s grosser than gross: pups at cafés or matchas with Pilates people?

oil rig, santa barbara channel, california, reef
UNDERWATER

The Environmental Battle over Aging Oil Rigs

Aging oil platforms off the California coast are home to millions of sea creatures. What to do with these structures?

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alta journal, cover, issue 27, los angeles storytellers
THE CURRENT ISSUE

Issue 27: Los Angeles Storytellers

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victoria patterson writing at her desk in the basement photographed on january 25, 2024
THE READERS

Secret Lives Inside the Huntington Library

An L.A. writer forms the unlikeliest of friendships in the bowels of the Huntington Library.

L.A. LIT

mads gobbo, north figueroa bookstore, highland park

Ask a Clerk! L.A.’s Indie Booksellers Tell All

colin hinckley, village well books and coffee, culver city

Ask a Clerk! L.A.’s Indie Booksellers Tell All

lynn aime, diesel a bookstore, santa monica

Ask a Clerk! L.A.’s Indie Booksellers Tell All

alta live ask a clerk indie booksellers tell all

Alta Live: Ask a Clerk! Indie Booksellers Tell All

THE MONDAY BOOK REVIEW

Sign-up for our weekly book review email.
rachel khong, real americans, novel, fiction, book review

Cultural Evolution

In Real Americans, Rachel Khong reconfigures the family saga.

chipped, writing from a skateborders lens, jose vadi, book review, nonficton

Free Ride

arthur sze, silk dragon ii, translations of chinese poetry, book review

Found in Translation

joel selvin, drums and demons, jim gordon

A Different Drummer

marie mutsuki mockett, tree doctor, book review

The Year of Living Dangerously

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san francisco based private investigator jack palladino
FROM THE ARCHIVES

The Last of the Old-School Private Eyes

For nearly 50 years, a tight-knit group of San Francisco PIs practiced their craft in the pursuit of truth and, hopefully, justice.

EVENTS

Alta Live hosts interviews with magazine contributors, subjects, and California luminaries every Wednesday.
alta live the drama at oregon shakespeare festival

Alta Live: The Drama at Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Wednesday, May 8, 2024, 12:30 p.m. Pacific time

alta live pioneertown problems

Alta Live: Pioneertown’s Problems

alta live ask a clerk indie booksellers tell all

Alta Live: Ask a Clerk! Indie Booksellers Tell All

celebrate indie bookstore day with alta journal at pages a bookstore in manhattan beach on april 27 with santi elijah holley, victoria patterson, and george chen

Celebrate Indie Bookstore Day with Alta Journal

alta live what should we do about kelseyville

Alta Live: What Should We Do About Kelseyville?

Latest from the California Book Club

Join the West Coast literary conversation every month.
lourdes portillo
The New Canon

Poem: ‘Despedida Poem for Lourdes Portillo’

Poem: ‘Despedida Poem for Lourdes Portillo,’ by Sandra Cisneros

sunrise in redwood national park

While in the Wilderness

colored television, danzy senna

‘Colored Television’

under the feet of jesus, helena maria viramontes

‘Under the Feet of Jesus’

venita blackburn, dead in long beach, california

‘Dead in Long Beach, California’

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rudolph valentino, poetry, verse, illustration
CELLULOID HERO

Exploring Rudolph Valentino’s Side Hustle: Poetry

On-screen, the actor delivered liquid poetry. On paper, not so much.

THE WEEKLY ALTA NEWSLETTER

New stories from California and the West sent to your inbox every Thursday.
a person standing next to a painting

South Asian Artists Confront Oppression with Joy

Oakland’s ‘Dalit Dreamlands’ Imagines a World Without Caste

a group of people on a ride

Luna Luna in Los Angeles

a person wearing gloves and gloves

If It Weeds, It Leads

a sign with red text

Say Goodbye to Kelseyville

a group of people wearing sunglasses

The Bright Side of the Eclipse

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viet thanh nguyen, writer, author, a man of two faces, los angeles
COVER STORY

Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Big Ideas Are Hiding in Plain Sight

The author’s books and lectures liberate challenging perspectives from the confines of genre, expectation, and academia.

lourdes portillo

Poem: ‘Despedida Poem for Lourdes Portillo’

funny story, emily henry, the paris novel, ruth reichl, the familiar, leigh bardugo, california bestsellers, may 2 2024, fiction, nonfiction

California Bestsellers List (May 2, 2024)

a person standing next to a painting

Art Without Caste

sunrise in redwood national park

While in the Wilderness

colored television, danzy senna

‘Colored Television’

under the feet of jesus, helena maria viramontes

‘Under the Feet of Jesus’

venita blackburn, dead in long beach, california

‘Dead in Long Beach, California’

gary snyder, poet, riprap and cold mountain poems

Writing Directly, Writing Locally

a dog sitting at a table, outdoor cafe, dogs at restaurants

Ask a Californian: Dogs at Cafés?

riprap, gary snyder

Excerpt: ‘Riprap’

15 new books for may 2024, all fours, and then and then what else, california snakes, cecilia, the default world, devils best trick, exhibit, return of ellie black the z word, perfume and pain, the red grove, love is a burning thing, reading the room, writers on the west

15 New Books for May

pages, issue 27 party

Alta Celebrates Indie Bookstore Day in L.A.