L.A. shines at Mexican book fair

[Dave Monroe]

L.A. shines at Mexican book fair
At last week's Guadalajara International Book Fair, two metropolises
with growing cultural and intellectual ties discovered they have much
in common.

By Reed Johnson
December 7, 2009


Reporting from Guadalajara, Mexico - Mexico's second-biggest city gets
major touristic props for its tequila, baroque architecture and
mariachi music. The United States' second-biggest city is famous (or
infamous) as the world capital of cars, indolent pleasures and the
film industry.

But in the course of last week's Guadalajara International Book Fair,
two metropolises with growing cultural and intellectual ties
discovered there was more to each other than Hollywood movies or
agave-distilled spirits.

[...]

The Los Angeles pavilion, designed by L.A.-based architects John
Friedman and Alice Kimm, drew praise from the locals for its sleek,
futuristic appearance. Splashed across one of the pavilion's walls,
like a phantasmic billboard, a giant interactive digital screen
projection allowed visitors to click and view profiles of authors
ranging from Thomas Pynchon and Charles Bukowski to Philip K. Dick and
M.F.K. Fisher. At an adjoining set of book stalls, browsers pored over
scores of titles by L.A. authors.

[...]

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-guadalajara7-2009dec07,0,6994116.story