Murders & Mayhem in Malibu... or, Just Another Day in L.A.? (Movieland book REVIEW)
There are certain things an Angeleno just accepts as part of life. Insane amounts of traffic, clogging freeways and local access roads alike, for two-thirds of every day. Choppers flying overhead fast and low, at all hours. Perpetual threats of wildfires and earthquakes. The realization that no matter how much you might want to be one of those people who has “beach days”, the chances of such are slim. Some new political scandal, somewhere in the county. Rationalizing those late-night In-and-Out burgers by consuming mass quantities of kale and outrageously-priced juices. Avoiding most of Hollywood like the plague (despite some great theaters and restaurants), due to the overwhelming presence of mentally-unstable transients and gaping tourists (who can never understand why they aren’t running into “stars” at every corner). And—since the arrival of the coronavirus—a resurgence of the rampant crime (that had actually, finally, been on the downswing). Why do we accept all of that? Because...