"In Los Angeles, everyone is a star." - Denzel Washington


For
more than a century, seekers of sun and celebrity from around the world
have flocked to this sprawling metropolis on the Pacific, which Dorothy
Parker once described as "72 suburbs in search of a city." But beyond
the red-carpet reputation and Tinseltown trappings is a west coast
wonderland teeming with unexpected cultural experiences, iconic
architecture, gorgeous open spaces, quirky museums, hidden vistas,
unconventional art, and obscure stories about the starlets, moguls,
personalities, and players who have made Los Angeles their playground.
This unusual guidebook explores 111 of the city's most interesting and
unknown places and experiences: wander a serpentine path in a spiritual
quest of your own making; channel your inner cowboy at a tried and true
honky tonk bar; pay homage to the Dude at the bungalow where the big
Lebowski lived; turn your car tires into musical instruments on the
country's only 'musical' road; sleep with the ghosts of Marilyn Monroe
and Charlie Chaplin; view a constellation of stars more vivid than
anything Hollywood has to offer. From the San Gabriel Mountains to the
Pacific Ocean, Angelenos and visitors will fall in love with the real
Los Angeles. Adventures beckon. Surprises await. Just imagine how much
more scintillating your dinner-party storytelling will be.

Photographs by: Lyudmila Zotova