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The Los Angeles Diaries
by
James Brown (Goodreads Author)
A wrenching chronicle of loss and
reaffirmation from novelist James Brown Plagued by the suicides of both his siblings, heir to alcohol and drug abuse, divorce and economic ruin, James Brown lived a life clouded by addiction, broken promises and despair. In "The Los Angeles Diaries he reveals his struggle for survival, mining his past to present the inspiring story of his...more
reaffirmation from novelist James Brown Plagued by the suicides of both his siblings, heir to alcohol and drug abuse, divorce and economic ruin, James Brown lived a life clouded by addiction, broken promises and despair. In "The Los Angeles Diaries he reveals his struggle for survival, mining his past to present the inspiring story of his...more
Hardcover, 200 pages
Published
September 1st 2003
by William Morrow & Company
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Wow. Where did this book come from? Frankly, I should've read this years ago. It's a perfect book. I realize I can be overly approbative when it comes to literature... I can lay on the praise in thick, greasy layers, immediately pronouncing the writer a genius who fell from the heavens. But shit, it's prose, this stuff is hard. Really hard. Ten times more difficult (and creative) than acting... if you ask me. Only painting comes close. And I still think writing prose is more complex.
Okay, so wh...more
Okay, so wh...more
Sometimes, there are no happy endings. This is a powerfully written, dark and troubled book. The author describes his life in unflinching details, and makes no effort to sugar-coat the troubles he has as a result of his family, his drinking, and his drug use. Written in the present tense, the memoir takes on a very current feel - the doom about to befall the narrator seems imminent at every moment. Brown's writing is very sharp, and although the subject matter is difficult to read, I found mysel...more
For his prose alone I'd recommend James Brown's The Los Angeles Diaries. It is so beautifully written: the sentence structure sparse, the rhythm quick, the imagery intense. He makes some brilliant choices with his narration. I have never before read a second person narrative where the author uses it to portray empathy. Brown does it well and if you're not into this type of memoir, which not everyone is, I suggest you skip ahead and read the chapter:"Midair." It is stunning.
The entire book is sc...more
The entire book is sc...more
The best addiction memoir out there. Brown has a talent for my favorite, very hard to achieve, kind of writing - literary but accessible. I'll give you the gist of what to expect with two awesome lines that stand out.
While describing the depths of his own desperation, Brown makes a poignant observation about an event we are all familiar with – the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. When Jackie begins to climb out of the car “all she’s concerned about is gathering up the pieces of her hu...more
While describing the depths of his own desperation, Brown makes a poignant observation about an event we are all familiar with – the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. When Jackie begins to climb out of the car “all she’s concerned about is gathering up the pieces of her hu...more
This is a beautiful book and I read it start to finish on the plane from Burbank to New Orleans. You know a book is good when you have to hide your face in a sweatshirt on a plane to avoid the shame of tears. The prose is simple, honest and true. It's the most effective first person memoir I've read in a long time. Brown's sentences sting without trying too hard, like "Everything, I tell myself, is under control." The beginning sucked me in right away and held me there. The fires that burn LA ev...more
I had ordered this book from my library because I had won the follow-up to this book, This River: A Memoir on First Reads and wanted to have a good understanding of the author's life. I had anticipated simply reading this book, as a former addictions counselor, more from a bibliotherapy perspective and not putting much thought into it. What ended up coming out of this is that I have thoroughly enjoyed the book and read a little less than half of it in one day because the author has a real talent...more
Aug 19, 2009
Jhunter
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
students, mature readers
Recommended to Jhunter by:
professor
This book was recommended by my professor last winter. I started to read the book and couldn't put it down. I never cared for memoirs but this book was simply wonderful. It is gripping to say the least, no one could ever say that it was a boring read. Your heart can't help but to go our to Mr Brown. Even though he is a drug abuser and alcoholic you can't help but to root for him. You develop a desperate desire to want to see this guy succeed. I recommend this book to all mature readers (i.e. any...more
I loved ‘The Los Angeles Diaries’ so much I put off my review—just felt so anxious about how I could possibly do it justice. (Whenever I’m bowled over by a book, I get completely insecure in my own ability to string together words that might express how deeply it has made me feel…)
The minute it arrived from Amazon, I pretty much devoured it in a sitting. With Brown’s most recent memoir ‘This River’ (which I read last week) still resonating in my mind, I found I could not put ‘The Los Angeles Dia...more
The minute it arrived from Amazon, I pretty much devoured it in a sitting. With Brown’s most recent memoir ‘This River’ (which I read last week) still resonating in my mind, I found I could not put ‘The Los Angeles Dia...more
In the middle of reading Andre Dubus the III's Townie, I got this book in the mail. Partly because I misplaced Townie and partly because from the first paragraph through I couldn't stop reading James Brown's autobiographical Diaries, I still have to go back and finish Dubus' memoir/autobiography. But, when I do finish Townie, I want to go back through both these books and see why it is that I like Brown's Los Angeles Diaries and consequently Brown, as both a person and a writer, so much more tha...more
James Brown, the author of several novels including "Final Performance" and "Lucky Town," has mined his dysfunctional childhood many times for material. And he's had plenty to choose from, including an arsonist mother who bankrupted the family, the alcoholism and drug addiction (and subsequent suicides) of his brother and his sister, and his own battles with alcohol and drugs and failed marriage.
This book is less a chronology of his life than a series of vignettes from his childhood, strung tog...more
This book is less a chronology of his life than a series of vignettes from his childhood, strung tog...more
It's wildly hard to write about depression, suicide, and addiction in a brave, new way in a memoir. Brown does it. I think his second "memoir" (read: essay collection) This River, is superior, because in that form (even if he doesn't claim it), he has more room to ruminate on meanings, but this dark freight train of a memoir will carry you deep into the mind and soul of an addict who's willing to rip himself wide to warn others as much as heal himself.
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Quite moving and jagged--and just (I think) does manage to avoid the disaffection that can be caused by raspy characters. Perhaps most moving the last section ("Midair")--where he addresses directly his dead sister. Interesting that he does away with Going Fast (presumably his first novel)--poetic license in such a personal memoir? Hmm. But an ultimately uplifting read (somehow or other)--I only hope he's continued the same way it ended.
This book was highly recommended to me by a friend at the publishing house. She told me it was harrowing and difficult to read but very well written--and this from someone who has long been disillusioned by the poor quality of manuscripts passing through production.
My friend was quite right: this is an all-warts-exposed view of life on the fringes in Southern California, told through a series of vignettes from various years--1970, 1994, 1977--in which the author recalls the suicides of his broth...more
My friend was quite right: this is an all-warts-exposed view of life on the fringes in Southern California, told through a series of vignettes from various years--1970, 1994, 1977--in which the author recalls the suicides of his broth...more
I won the sequel to this book on Goodreads so I checked this one out of the library to prepare for it! This was an unexpectedly good book. It gives the reader a real look at the life of someone with addictions. After reading the book and learning about the author's childhood,I could understand how he could have gotten to such a low point in his life and was glad to see he had reached a turning point. I am looking forward to the sequel!
One of my favorite memoirs. Brown's life, and descriptions of his life was so real, and raw and human. I chuckled a few times throughout the book because he recalls details that are so heart wrenching yet he recalls so matter-of-factly. I think anyone who had or even still has addicition in their life should read this!
a quick read, one of those overcoming addiction, but truthfullness, and interesting side notes about the process of wtiting and becoming published and I enjoyed the fact that i could relate to his lfe because we drive the same freeways, read the same newspapers, do the same things - except the drugs and alcoholism.
This is not a book by the Godfather of Soul. It is a book by a crack addicted degenerate screenwriter who found his way out of madness and suicidal thoughts. A very interesting read, and quite a harrowing one, also.
Hard to find, but worth the effort.
Hard to find, but worth the effort.
Jan 10, 2011
Aja
added it
This book is an amazing story of a person struggling with addiction and the reasons why he became addicted in the first place. For those who want to understand more about addiction or would just like to read a great story, please read this book.
very interesting book about addiction. I would have liked it to be a little less random in chronology as the constant skipping around was confusing. I am reading his follow up next and am looking forward to the rest of the story.
I stumbled upon this memoir on a sale rack in a Los Angeles record store. It was only $2 and seemed slightly interesting so I figured why not. I was surprised to find I thoroughly enjoyed the story of writer/teacher James Brown and his struggles with addiction. I finished it the same day I started and immediately bought the sequal, This River. I wish there were more pieces of writing from this author because he truly has a voice and story like none other.
It takes a great deal of courage to peel away the surface and write about the core of who we are as human beings--without metaphor or exaggeration, without literary fabrication. 'The Los Angeles Diaries' doesn't have the space, or the time, to meditate on anything other than life or death. Brown's story is too urgent, too special, too honest to bother. Even the best writers, the writers I admire beyond comprehension, seem to have difficulty in getting down to the bare bones of our sometimes triv...more
This is apparently memoir short stories rather than one continous story. I dont much care for how it jumps along. I did enjoy some of them more than others, but overall I should have skipped it.
Not only is Brown a great author, he is a fantastic professor. I learned so much from him and his work, and he has helped me pursue writing my own memoir.
It's always tough for me to read books about self-destruction, mainly as a result of poor upbringing. This book did not pull on my heart strings as much as I thought it would. A decent read, nothing out-of-this-world.
Excellent. Very real and emotional. Really gives you a glimpse into the struggles of overcoming addiction.
Gritty and realistic. One of those books it was hard to read, but couldn't put it down.
Almost worse than Kristen-Paige Madonia's Fingerprints of You.
Poignant. Tells a lot without too many words or too much length.
True story. Very well written and very candid. Worth reading.
The consummate memoir. Sets the bar for everything else.
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James Brown is the author of several novels, and the memoirs, The Los Angeles Diaries, and This River. He is the recipient of a National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship in Fiction Writing and the Nelson Algren Award in Short Fiction. His work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, GQ, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, Ploughshares, and The New England Review.
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Sep 18, 2012 07:51pm