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Fiction

the fire agent, david baerwald

An Emotional Journey

TTS audio available7 min
appraisals, claire boyles

Maggie’s Farm

TTS audio available8 min
yellow pine, claire vaye watkins

Desert Testament

TTS audio available6 min
the haul by gary phillips, book review

Another Punch in the Head

TTS audio available5 min
earth 7 by deb olin unferth, book review

Brave New World

TTS audio available7 min
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tree of letters emerging from a hand symbolizing knowledge and creativity, kate braverman, writing mentor, janet fitch

My Mentor, My Muse

TTS audio available8 min
the last human bear by greg sarris, book review

“Out of My Way!”

TTS audio available7 min
contrapposto by dave eggers, book review

Art for Humans

TTS audio available7 min
lovers xxx, allie rowbottom

Sex and the City

TTS audio available7 min
coyoteland by vanessa hua, book review

Suburban Territory

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a violent masterpiece by jordan harper, book review

Slashed from the Headlines

TTS audio available6 min
tc boyle, no way home, book review

The Three-Hander

TTS audio available7 min
midnight at the war by devi s laskar, book review

Dispatches from an Unnamed Country

rachel khong, my dear you

Everyday Magic

TTS audio available7 min
marriage at sea, sarah stone

Lives We Perform

writer josh wheeler

Writer’s Room: Joshua Wheeler

TTS audio available5 min
jan kerouac, bathtub

A Kind of Sublimity

author jane smiley visits her mare, perestroika, right, at a salinas barn, on the left is another owner’s horse, rhu

The Habit Jane Smiley Could Not Get Rid Of

TTS audio available13 min
crown city by naomi hirahara, book review

City of Kings

james sallis, lew griffin novels, books, writer

“Endings Are Seldom Pretty”

TTS audio available7 min
humboldt cut by allison mick, book review

The Forest Remembers

TTS audio available8 min
how to commit a postcolonial murder by nina mcconigley, book review

Split Self, Split Sisters

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author gabriel tallent poses beside the cover of his novel crux, the subject of a critical review examining risk, genius, and obsession.

Love Me Like a Rock

scavengers by kathleen boland, book review

Let’s Have Some Fun

television by lauren rothery, book review

Lights, Camera…Screen Time

annalee newitz standing in a plaid jumpsuit before a packed bookshelf, smiling and leaning against the shelves—capturing the playful, creative tone behind automatic noodle.

Writer’s Room: After the War

TTS audio available5 min
illustration of a washoe man hiding behind a tree in a snowy forest, staring in shock as a giant skull looms overhead—evoking the horror and historical trauma depicted in rabbit boss.

What the Washoe Saw

a long game, elizabeth mccracken

Permission for Writers

TTS audio available6 min
only way out by tod goldberg, book review

Long Con in the New West

the pelican child, joy williams

Time and Tide

TTS audio available7 min
lightbreakers, aja gabel

The Physics of Grief: Aja Gabel’s ‘Lightbreakers’

susan straight, sacrament

Nurses and Lowriders

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at last, marisa silver

Writer’s Room: Form and Function

TTS audio available7 min
joyride by susan orlean, book review

Golden Run

TTS audio available6 min
a wooded shore by thomas mcguane, book review

When Things Go Very Wrong

TTS audio available15 min
beings by ilana masad, book review

Out of the Archives

author ross macdonald, book jackets

Light in the Lew Archer Novels

shadow ticket, thomas pynchon

Conspiracy Theory

angela flournoy seated on a park bench wearing a mustard shawl, holding a small notebook and pen, surrounded by trees and dappled light.

Writer’s Room: Friendship As a Prism

TTS audio available5 min
a different kind of tension by jonathan lethem, book review

Life Writing

illustration of flapper style woman with dark bob haircut, red lips, and diamond jewelry—depicting lorelei lee, protagonist of gentlemen prefer blondes.

‘A Diamond and Safire Bracelet Lasts Forever’

TTS audio available25 min
cover of rabih alameddine’s novel "the true true story of raja the gullible," featuring a turquoise background with red thread loops. portrait of rabih alameddine wearing a black cap and glasses, standing against a gray wall.

Time After Time

TTS audio available7 min
the martian chronicles by rad bradbury, book review

Rocket Man

cover of peter orner’s novel the gossip columnist’s daughter, featuring a matchbook and typewriter on a green background. author peter orner photographed outdoors with ocean in background.

Unsolved Homicide

moderation by elaine castillo, book review

What Reality Is This?

TTS audio available6 min
nolan knight, the gorgon of los feliz, book review

Grifter’s Paradise

which walks by laura moriarty, book review

Oblique Strategies

cover of typewriter beach by meg waite clayton, showing a woman in a black dress framed by a grand arched window overlooking the california coast.

American Fantasy

a bomb placed close to the heart by nishant batsha, book review

Inventing History

TTS audio available9 min
michelle huneven, bug hollow

The Adult in the Room

crown, evanthia bromiley

Writer’s Room: Evanthia Bromiley

TTS audio available7 min
illustration of edward abbey

The Origin of ‘The Monkey Wrench Gang’

TTS audio available21 min
the giveaway by owen hill, clay backburn novels

Down These Mean Streets

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awake in the floating city, susanna kwan, book review

Yesterday’s Weather

sky daddy by kate folk, book review

Don’t Ask Why

our beautiful boys, sameer pandya

Young Man Down

stacy nathaniel jackson, the ephemera collection

The Memory Palace

25 books that define california, chowder, musso and frank

Writers’ Haunts

methodology icon

The Methodology

ask a bookseller

Ask a Bookseller

25 books that define california, chowder, natalia molina

What Makes a California Novel?

TTS audio available1 min
the big sleep by raymond chandler

The Big Sleep

TTS audio available2 min
the mars room by rachel kushner

The Mars Room

TTS audio available2 min
under the feet of jesus by helena maria viramontes

Under the Feet of Jesus

TTS audio available5 min
25 books that define california, chowder

Overlooked Evocations