Venice: A Contested Bohemia in Los Angeles by Deener; Operation Fly Trap: L.A. Gangs, Drugs, and the Law by Phillips (both books published by University of Chicago Press)

Andrew Deener and Susan Phillips will discuss and sign their new books, which take a fresh look at Los Angeles neighborhoods and culture. Praise for Venice: A Contested Bohemia: “In this tour de force of dialectical observation, Andrew Deener explains how Venice Beach is both L.A.'s democratic libido and the summation of its inequalities.” —Mike Davis, author of City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles Praise for Operation Fly Trap: L.A. Gangs, Drugs, and the Law: “I thoroughly enjoyed reading Operation Fly Trap. The dramatis personae are treated as human beings, and the reader gets a chance to look at them in the flesh: loving, betrayed, strung out, anxious, and more. The book marries the real conditions of poverty, racism, and war with the day-to-day lives of victims and offenders. This is first-class ethnography.” —John Hagedorn, author of A World of Gangs

Andrew Deener is assistant professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut. He lived in Venice for close to six years. Susan A. Phillips is assistant professor of environmental analysis at Pitzer College. She is the author of Wallbangin’: Graffiti and Gangs in L.A., also published by the University of Chicago Press.

THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS JUNE 27, 2012.