Rats, footballers and Los Angeles

Don't know why, but I tend to prefer non-fiction over fiction these days. One of my favorite all time books remains Charles Johnson's novel Middle Passage, and a good yarn every now and then still gets me going, but for the most part my recent reading has been grounded in reality. I also tend to read books by the bushel, keeping one in my car, one next to my bed, and one in my bag. Next on my reading list are two novels, including Danyel Smith's Bliss, but I recently finished up a particularly good trio of books, and I thought I'd share some passing thoughts on them before I move on to the next batch:

Rats: Observations on the History & Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants

This one is by Robert Sullivan, a regular contributor to the New Yorker. Sullivan spent an unhealthy amount of time lurking in a lower Manhattan alley examining its native rat population, and readers get to benefit from his unusual personal quest. The book combines his ruminations on his adopted rat colony with some fascinating history on rats and the exterminators who attempt to control them. A real page turner, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

White Angels: Beckham, Real Madrid & The New Football

I remain amazed that the average American has never heard of Zidane, Raul, or Figo, among the best soccer players on the planet. Placing Beckham's name on the cover line of this book seems to be an obvious attempt to lure the American buying audience with that most recognizable of soccer icons, but fortunately, the book spends a huge amount of time exploring the other superstars that make up the eternal dream team that is Real Madrid. With Beckham, Ronaldo, and the aforementioned players all on the same squad, Madrid's talent base has no equal in professional sports today. It would be like the original dream team (Jordan, Bird, et al) playing a regular season against the rest of the NBA...for a decade. I don't like how the author so often tries to inject excitement into very mundane things (like a Madrid exec asking a powerful Audi executive to hold on while he receives a fax regarding Beckham's acquisition). I'd assume that's a typical American complaint, not unlike when Spanish language soccer commentators scream "Goooooooooooooooal!" and Americans reply "what the hell is that guy so excited about?" Still, author John Carlin's excitement about the team is both palpable and contagious. Football enthusiasts will love this book, while those ignorant to the sport may very well find themselves wanting to tune in to Manchester United games on BBC World by the time they're done.

The City: Los Angeles and Urban Theory at the End of the Twentieth Century

I'm a long time urban planning buff (intensely studied Mumford, Le Corbusier, Kostof and Jacobs during my Michigan fellowship), so I understand that this 1999 book is definitely not for everyone. In fact, when I checked it out at the library, the perplexed librarian asked me if I needed it for a class. Yes, it's that heavy of a read. That being said, I can't think of a better way to understand the cities in which we live than to look at them from an economic and planning perspective, which this book does incredibly well. I was particularly enthralled with the chapters detailing the dismantling of Los Angeles' streetcar system (yep, LA had the biggest streetcar system in the world) and the relentless destruction of the city's once abundant parkland. It might be wrapped up in 470 pages of academic jargon, but sorting through it provides one of the most complete and intensive recent histories of the City of Angels that I have ever seen in print.