Books by Bruins - L.A. Stories
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or the next several months, our Books by Bruins series will feature a new collection of books by theme, starting with books about Los Angeles — its history, environment and the people who call it home. As this compilation of Bruin authors grows, we’re categorizing the books into an online library, but we’ll need your help to make it as comprehensive as possible. If you know of one, please submit a Bruin author. While all these books are written by UCLA alumni, inclusion in the list is not an endorsement.
Imagining Los Angeles: A City in Fiction (2004)
David Fine '83
The literary image of Los Angeles has evolved since the 1880s from a New Eden to contemporary visions of the city as a perplexing, sometimes corrupt, even apocalyptic place. In “Imagining Los Angeles,” the first literary history of the city in more than 50 years, critic David Fine traces the history and mood of Los Angeles through the work of writers including Helen Hunt Jackson, Mary Austin, Norman Mailer, Raymond Chandler, Joan Didion and Carolyn See. Fine was a professor at California State University, Long Beach for over 35 years. A graduate of UCLA, he was a Fulbright Scholar, a member of the UCLA marching band and served in the United States National Guard Reserves as a member of a military band.
Native Shrubs of Southern California (2023)
Peter H. Raven, Ph.D. ’60
Southern California’s valleys, mountains and deserts are an exceptionally rich environment for native shrubs. “Native Shrubs of Southern California” contains approximately 400 kinds of shrubs, with both color and black and white illustrations. Peter H. Raven is a botanist and environmentalist, and is the former president and director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, one of the oldest botanical institutions in the United States.
Sons, Daughters, and Sidewalk Psychotics: Mental Illness and Homelessness in Los Angeles (2024)
Neil Gong, M.A. '13, Ph.D. '19
Neil Gong is assistant professor of sociology at UC San Diego, where he researches psychiatric services, homelessness and liberal social order. His book “Sons, Daughters, and Sidewalk Psychotics” is about inequality in mental health care in Los Angeles. His public commentary can be found in the Washington Post, the Atlantic and the Los Angeles Review of Books.
Conservation of California Walnut in the Eastern Santa Monica Mountains (2022)
Travis Longcore, M.A. '95, Ph.D. '99
The walnut was first cultivated in California by Franciscan Monks in the late 1700s; many of today’s trees are descended from these early plantings. “Conservation of California Walnut in the Eastern Santa Monica Mountains” addresses a region that is subject to ongoing development pressure threatening the remaining walnut groves and oak–walnut woodlands. Travis Longcore is an adjunct professor in the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and co-chair of the Environmental Science and Engineering Program. He conducts research on environmental health focusing on the conservation of biodiversity in cities.
Fruteros: Street Vending, Illegality, and Ethnic Community in Los Angeles (2020)
Rocío Rosales, M.A. '08, Ph.D. '12
Young Latino street vendors, known as fruteros, sell fruit salads out of pushcarts throughout Los Angeles. Drawing on six years of fieldwork, this book examines how they navigate the complexities of local and federal laws prohibiting both their presence and their work on street corners. “Fruteros: Street Vending, Illegality, and Ethnic Community in Los Angeles” sheds light on those complexities and offers the concept of the "ethnic cage" to explain both the promise and pain of community. Rocío Rosales is associate dean, Faculty Development and Diversity & Inclusive Excellence Professor at UC Irvine focused on international migration, immigrant and ethnic economies and immigrant detention.
Los Angeles Residential Architecture: Modernism Meets Eclecticism (2015)
Ruth Wallach '86, M.L.S. '88
During the first half of the twentieth century, Los Angeles grew into a sprawling metropolis. As suburbs developed, demonstration homes like the California Home and Garden Exhibition showcased the latest in timesaving appliances and inspired a new generation of homebuyers. In her book “Los Angeles Residential Architecture: Modernism Meets Eclecticism” author Ruth Wallach tours the varied Modernist styles that give Los Angeles its distinct residential landscape. Wallach has a B.A. in economics and an M.L.S. in library science from UCLA. She is the associate dean of Social Sciences and Humanities Libraries at USC.
Goal Dust: The Warm and Candid Memoirs of a Pioneer Black Athlete and Actor (1993)
Woody Strode (1937-39)
Woody Strode's extraordinary career led him from the football field to Hollywood. In 1939, Strode, along with teammates Jackie Robinson and Kenny Washington, led UCLA to its first undefeated football season. Strode and Washington had been two of the best-known college football players in the nation. After World War II, they became the first Black players drafted into the NFL. In 1950, Strode became pro wrestling's first Black star. After that it was a small step to Hollywood where he appeared in films such as The “Ten Commandments,” “Spartacus” and “The Cotton Club.” He was also known for his roles in numerous TV westerns. Woody from “Toy Story” was named in his honor.
Packer and Jack (2013)
Rachel Hoffman, Ph.D. '97
"Packer and Jack," is an L.A. love story set in the six square blocks of downtown they call home. Rachel Hoffman, who is also the author of the novel "Saltine," earned her Ph.D. in art history from UCLA and later moved to Italy to make wine, milk cows and write. Her work has appeared in more than a dozen literary journals. A 2017 Fulbright granted Rachel a month's residency at the International Writers' and Translators' House in Latvia to complete a memoir of her years living in Africa.
Little Tokyo: One Hundred Years in Pictures (1983)
Ichiro Mike Murase '70
This book tells the story of Little Tokyo through photographs, from its early beginnings in 1885, through World War II and into the 1980s. Ichiro Mike Murase moved with his Kibei-Nisei family to Los Angeles when he was nine years old. Murase was one of the founders of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, as well as serving as president of Nisei Bruin Club while he was an undergraduate at UCLA in the late 1960s. As an activist, attorney, administrator, community organizer and teacher, Murase has served the Asian American community in many capacities over the past four decades.
Chican@ Artivistas: Music, Community, and Transborder Tactics in East Los Angeles (2020)
Martha Gonzalez ’99
By showcasing the social impact made by key artist-activists in the art world and music industry, Gonzalez charts the evolution of a now-canonical body of work that took its inspiration from the Zapatista movement, particularly its masked indigenous participants, and that responded to efforts to impose systems of labor exploitation and social subjugation. Martha Gonzalez is a Chicana artivista (artist/activist) musician, feminist music theorist and associate professor in the Intercollegiate Department of Chicana/o Latina/o Studies at Scripps College. A Fulbright, Ford and Woodrow Wilson Fellow, her academic interests have been fueled by her own musicianship as a singer/songwriter and percussionist for the GRAMMY Award-winning band Quetzal.
Ethnopolitical Entrepreneurs: Outsiders Inside Armenian Los Angeles (2023)
Daniel Fittante ’05, Ph.D. ’18
In “Ethnopolitical Entrepreneurs: Outsiders Inside Armenian Los Angeles”, Daniel Fittante expands our understanding of U.S. political history. The author shows how Glendale's Armenian community is changing the country's political reality within its dynamic, multiethnic suburbs. Fittante is a postdoctoral fellow in the department of sociology at Södertörn University. His research areas include political and urban sociology, diaspora studies and immigration.
Compton in My Soul: A Life in Pursuit of Racial Equality (2024)
Albert Camarillo ’70, Ph.D. ’75
When Al Camarillo grew up in Compton, California, racial segregation was the rule. His relatives were among the first Mexican immigrants to settle there — in the only neighborhood where Mexicans were allowed to live. The author of seven books and numerous articles and papers, “Compton in My Soul” weaves his personal story with the history of his L.A. neighborhood, and illuminates a changing U.S. society — the progress and backslides over half a century for racial equality and educational opportunity. Entering UCLA in the mid 1960s, Camarillo was one of only 50 Mexican American students, and became one of the first Mexican Americans in the country to earn a Ph.D. in history. He is widely regarded as one of the founding scholars of the field of Mexican American history and Chicano Studies. Ha also played basketball under Coach John Wooden with teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ’69.
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders (2001)
Vincent Bugliosi, J.D. '64
Only a few years out of law school, Vincent Bugliosi gained fame as the Los Angeles County deputy district attorney who prosecuted the Charles Manson murders in 1969. After leaving the DA’s office, he co-wrote “Helter Skelter,” a book about the Manson trial. He went on to write numerous bestsellers including, “Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy” in which he challenged numerous conspiracy theories and “Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O. J. Simpson Got Away with Murder” about the acquittal of O. J. Simpson. At UCLA Law, he was president of his graduating class.
From Watts to the World: A Chronicle of Service (2021)
Rosalyn Cain King, M.P.H. '72
Dr. Rosalyn C. King’s life story is a testament to the transformative power of determination, passion and service. This book chronicles her five-decade career in pharmacy and public health; a global journey that took her to countries like Romania and Nigeria, where she played a vital role in healthcare services and pivotal projects funded by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). She is a distinguished pharmacist, author, professor, consultant and global health advisor.
Giant Robot: Thirty Years of Defining Asian American Pop Culture (2024)
Eric Nakamura '83
Eric Nakamura founded Giant Robot as a photocopied and stapled zine in Los Angeles in 1994. Giant Robot magazine reached a wide audience interested in Asian popular culture. Nakamura built on the success of Giant Robot with stores and galleries in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, and has curated over 300 exhibitions. “Giant Robot: Thirty Years of Defining Asian-American Pop Culture” features the best of the magazine’s sixty-eight issue run alongside never-before-seen photographs, writing by contributing journalist Claudine Ko and tributes from now-famous fans. Nakamura works in and owns the Giant Robot store and GR2 Gallery which offer pop culture goods and art exhibitions.
Zev's Los Angeles: From Boyle Heights to the Halls of Power (2023)
Zev Yaroslavsky ’71, M.A. ’72
“Zev's Los Angeles: From Boyle Heights to the Halls of Power” tells the story of Zev Yaroslavsky, from young social activist to a powerful elected official who sparked reforms in policing, transit, land use and fiscal policies. His Los Angeles political career spanned four decades as a member of the City Council (1975-1994) and County Board of Supervisors (1994-2014). Yaroslavsky is the former director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA.
Black Los Angeles: American Dreams and Racial Realities (2010)
Darnell Hunt, M.A. '91, Ph.D. '94
During the first half of the twentieth century, Los Angeles was also seen as a mecca for both African Americans and a steady stream of migrants from around the country and the world, transforming Los Angeles into one of the world's most diverse cities. Darnell Hunt serves as UCLA’s executive vice chancellor and provost, responsible for administering campus operations and the academic enterprise. A celebrated scholar of race and media, he is well known for his longstanding commitment to high-quality public education, support of interdisciplinary research for the common good and vision for inclusive excellence. From July through December 2024, he served as UCLA’s interim chancellor, prior to the beginning of Chancellor Julio Frenk’s tenure.
East Los Angeles: History of a Barrio (1983)
Ricardo Romo, Ph.D. '75
“East Los Angeles: History of a Barrio” is the story of the largest Mexican-American community in the United States, the city within a city known as "East Los Angeles." The author examines how Mexican immigrants adjusted to life in one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States, how they fared in this country's labor market and the problems of segregation and prejudice they confronted. Ricardo Romo is an American urban historian who served as the fifth president of the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) from May 1999 to March 2017.
90210 Photobook (2016)
Priscilla Mars '14
“90210 Photobook” is a self-published photographic exploration of the city of Beverly Hills over several years. Priscilla Mars is a Mexican American artist originally from Fresno, California, who is obsessed with movies and the cinematic landscapes of L.A. Mars works in photography and cinematography in Los Angeles. She is a graduate of UCLA School of Arts and the AFI Cinematography Intensive Workshop for Women.
City of Inmates: Conquest, Rebellion, and the Rise of Human Caging in Los Angeles (2017)
Kelly Lytle Hernández, M.A. '00, Ph.D. '02
“City of Inmates” explores how the City of Angels became the capital city of the world's leading incarcerator. Marshaling more than two centuries of evidence, historian Kelly Lytle Hernandez unmasks how histories of native elimination, immigrant exclusion and black disappearance drove the rise of incarceration. Professor Lytle Hernández is a professor of history, African American studies and urban planning at UCLA where she holds The Thomas E. Lifka Endowed Chair in History. In 2019, she was named a MacArthur Fellow for her historical and contemporary work. Her newest book, “Bad Mexicans,” tells the dramatic story of the magonistas, the migrant rebels who sparked the 1910 Mexican Revolution from the United States.
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