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Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles

Published by USC Bedrosian Center on

Featuring Raphael Bostic, Liz Falletta, Aubrey Hicks, and Christian L. Redfearn This episode features a discussion of David Ulin’s Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles. A transplant to Los Angeles from New York, Ulin’s long essay/memoir is a meditation on moving through and defining his relationship with the sprawling diversity that is the City of Angels. The book begins with an essay on how walking can be a way to discover the city (any city or town) through serendipity. Ulin describes the discovery of an interesting church by turning a different way on a usual route. Through this personal journey of exploration, Ulin “comes to terms” with Los Angeles. While marketed as a book about walking in the city where no one walks, our readers found this book to be an exploration of how one makes memories, how one interprets those memories through time, and how Ulin makes peace with his adopted home. To listen to the Bedrosian Book Club discussion of The Sympathizer click the orange arrow in the Soundcloud player at the top of this post. Or you can download it and subscribe through iTunes, Soundcloud, or Google Play Follow us on Twitter! @RaphaelBostic @AubreyHi @BedrosianCenter

Next Month …

Drown cover Read Drown by Junot Diaz along with us and listen to our discussion, download that discussion on November 28, 2016. We’ll continue this semester’s theme of examining the immigrant &/or refugee experience through Junot Diaz’ Drown. How does Diaz describe barriers immigrants feel when coming to the U.S. and how does his characters overcome them? What can these stories tell us about class in America? What should we learn from these stories? “With ten stories that move from the barrios of the Dominican Republic to the struggling urban communities of New Jersey, Junot Diaz makes his remarkable debut. Diaz’s work is unflinching and strong, and these stories crackle with an electric sense of discovery.” – Goodreads

Looking Ahead …

In December, we will be reading two books: White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg and The City and The City by China Miéville. Read along with us! Let us know what you think of the book or the podcasts at Facebook or Twitter.

This podcast was produced by Aubrey Hicks and Jonathan Schwartz, recorded and mixed by Corey Hedden.

@AubreyHi @jonHLYP @coreyhedden

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