L籀pez-Calvo (Latin American literature, U. of California, Merced) has written several books on Latin American and US Latino literature and culture. In this work he studies Los Angeles--a city
he lived in for eight years, puzzling about its culture and history, before initiating an investigation. His particular interests are how Latinos have lived in LA and how they've been
represented in literature and film, but his wider interests are in how immigrant populations cause and respond to anxieties in older resident populations. His fascinating introductory essay
recounts his own responses to the city over time. Following are three chapters focusing on "environmental racism and the politics of nature," Latino urban youth, and "gendered and nationalistic
anxieties." The appendices offer chronological lists of the literary and cinematic works he has chosen to analyze. Annotation 穢2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
