The American Dream and the City of Angels

The book explores the reciprocal relationship between one of the foundational national mythologies of the United States and literary representations of life in the postmodern metropolis. Considering literary theory, historical contexts of nation and identity formation, and the socioeconomic impact of urban development, this book provides an analytical framework that aims to situate diverse works of literature from and about LA in the context of shared communal values and national ideals at the turn of the twenty-first century. Through critical readings of different genres exemplary to the literary landscape of Los Angeles, a fictional topography of this disparate metropolis is traced. Stories located in neighborhoods shaped by minority groups, fictional retellings from the renowned Hollywood film industry, and gritty crime narratives of LA Noir are examined through the lens of the nation’s mythology – altogether creating a diverse patchwork of the city’s literature that offers unique, at times even contentious perspectives on the promise of the American Dream.