Sylvester Stallone was never supposed to make it
"The Steps: A Memoir" details not only the grit and determination it took to write best picture winner "Rocky" but how Stallone stood his ground to get to play the underdog boxer.
Reviews
Los Angeles Times
Reviews and author interviews from the West Coast’s paper
2026
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Think Burning Man meets the end of the world: This Pulitzer winner’s new book is a chaotic trip
Pulitzer winner Hernan Diaz returns with ‘Ply,’ an ambitious, science-fiction leap into a fallen metropolis where art and anarchy reign.
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With ax tattoos and rabbit ears, Mona Awad’s ‘Bunny’ fans are bringing her viral fiction to real life. Next up, a film adaptation
As her paperback sequel hits shelves, the "Bunny" author reflects on the fan art, tattoos and real-life connections that have emerged from the book.
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The secret to Josh Silver’s bestselling book ‘Fruit Fly’? Go gay. Go sad. Go dark.
Author Josh Silver turns publishing’s obsession with trauma on its head in his buzzy, sold-out debut ‘Fruit Fly.’ The acclaimed author will discuss his book in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
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Meg Howrey delivers big feelings — including laughter and sobs — alongside big social issues
Assisted suicide, Alzheimer’s disease and climate change meld with precisely-drawn characters and the dynamic between a mother and her daughters in the Indiana-set novel "Body Language."
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Marlon James’ most talked-about novel has arrived. It’s driven by a haunting tragedy
Melancholic and unyielding, James’ Booker Prize longlisted new novel, ‘The Disappearers,’ captures a community fighting to exist despite relentless persecution.
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Some say this hot new novel is about Natalie Portman. They’re missing the point
Forget the celebrity rumors. Rachel Cusk’s new book, ‘Life of M,’ reveals how all of us now navigate the uncanny gap between public and private personas.
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This ‘party historian’ chronicled the world history of nightlife — and L.A. gets its due
Historian Imogen Willetts explores four centuries of after-hours history in her new book "Up All Night," proving L.A.'s 2000s party era was a serious cultural force.
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Is this the book of the year? Colson Whitehead’s Harlem trilogy meets its perfect, gritty end
The Pulitzer Prize-winner pivots to the 1980s in ‘Cool Machine,’ delivering a dazzling, humor-infused masterpiece that cements his Harlem trilogy as an American classic.
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Medicare sucks. Caregiving is hard. Too bad the pain of aging feels like old news in new memoir
Inspired by caring for one grandmother, and mourning another, Lucy Schiller’s ‘Aging Out’ wanders through America’s eldercare issues, tracing a map of isolation.
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Is ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ phony or still cool? 6 writers reflect on its legacy at 75
We loved Holden Caulfield at 16, but how does the book hold up? Six California writers unpack the enduring power of Salinger’s only novel as it turns 75.
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Alice Munro’s darkest family drama haunts Rachel Aviv’s stunning new essay collection
In Rachel Aviv’s new essay collection ‘You Won’t Get Free of It,’ she explores childhood trauma, mental illness and the slipperiness of truth.
