Best Selling Books by Nina Revoyr

"I''m an LA native with a lot of love for LA crime fiction, but instead of preaching to the noir choir about The Long Goodbye, I''d like to gush about Southland by Nina Revoyr. It''s a brilliant, ambitious, moving literary crime novel about two families in South Los Angeles and their tangled history between the 1930s and the 1990s. The central mystery is the death of four black boys in a Japanese-American man''s store during the Watts Rebellion of 1965. It''s a powerful book, one that I think about often, as well as a huge influence on my work. Right up there with Chandler." --Stephanie Cha (of the LARB) in GQ on "The Greatest Crime Novelists on Their Favorite Crime Novels Ever" "[A]n absolutely compelling story of family and racial tragedy. Revoyr''s novel is honest in detailing southern California''s brutal history, and honorable in showing how families survived with love and tenacity and dignity." --Susan Straight, author of Highwire Moon Southland brings us a fascinating story of race, love, murder and history, against the backdrop of an ever-changing Los Angeles. A young Japanese-American woman, Jackie Ishida, is in her last semester of law school when her grandfather, Frank Sakai, dies unexpectedly. While trying to fulfill a request from his will, Jackie discovers that four African-American boys were killed in the store Frank owned during the Watts Riots of 1965. Along with James Lanier, a cousin of one of the victims, Jackie tries to piece together the story of the boys'' deaths. In the process, she unearths the long-held secrets of her family''s history. Southland depicts a young woman in the process of learning that her own history has bestowed upon her a deep obligation to be engaged in the larger world. And in Frank Sakai and his African-American friends, it presents characters who find significant common ground in their struggles, but who also engage each other across grounds--historical and cultural--that are still very much in dispute. Moving in and out of the past--from the internment camps of World War II, to the barley fields of the Crenshaw District in the 1930s, to the streets of Watts in the 1960s, to the night spots and garment factories of the 1990s--Southland weaves a tale of Los Angeles in all of its faces and forms. Nina Revoyr is the author of The Necessary Hunger ("Irresistible." --Time Magazine). She was born in Japan, raised in Tokyo and Los Angeles, and is of Japanese and Polish-American descent. She lives and works in Los Angeles.

Basketball player, Nancy Takahiro''s life changes as her father and the mother of the All-State shooting guard move in together. Rivalry becomes intense friendship as the girls prepare to leave their inner-city neighborhood to face future that is no longer easily defined.

Michelle LeBeau and her white-Japanese family are forever changed when a black family moves into her all-white town in 1974.

In 1960s L.A., a Japanese American former silent film star investigates a mystery from his dark past in this novel by the author of Southland. Jun Nakayama was a silent film star in the early days of Hollywood. By 1964, he is living in complete obscurity, until a young writer, Nick Bellinger, tracks him down for an interview. When Bellinger reveals that he has written a screenplay with Nakayama in mind, Jun is intrigued by the possibility of returning to movies. But he begins to worry that someone might delve too deeply into the past and uncover the events that abruptly ended his career in 1922. Like the changing social and racial tides in California—and the unsolved murder of his favorite director. Spurred on by his fear of a potential "misunderstanding," Jun begins to track down his surviving acquaintances from his years as Perennial Pictures'' greatest star. In the process, he recounts the lives of several other figures from the silent film era: Elizabeth Banks, the working-class girl from St. Louis who becomes a major Hollywood diva. Nora Minton Niles, the dreamy, childlike teenage star controlled by her ambitious mother. Hanako Minatoya, the elegant actress and playwright who serves as Jun''s inspiration and foil. And Ashley Bennett Tyler, the British director whose guiding hand turns Jun into a star. But what Jun ultimately discovers is far more complex and personal than even he could have imagined. The Age of Dreaming alternates between the 1960s and the height of the silent film era, telling the story of a man caught between worlds. Jun must try to please both his Japanese and American fans, and while he is adored by moviegoers—especially women—he''s despised by public officials, who see him as a threat to American power and racial purity. Praise for The Age of Dreaming "With Nabokov-worthy sentences, characters so real our hearts begin to beat with theirs, and a story as deeply mysterious and riveting as any the Hollywood it conjures up could have created, The Age of Dreaming is a masterpiece of the sort that doesn''t just seduce the reader—it leaves you transformed . . . . Revoyr deserves to be counted among the top ranks of novelists at work today." —Jerry Stahl, author of I, Fatty "Brilliant and original . . . . The carefully restrained voice of its narrator recalls Ishiguro''s The Remains of the Day." —Alison Lurie, Pulitzer Prize winner "Cunning . . . . Revoyr beautifully invokes Jun''s self-deceptions and his growing self-awareness. It''s an enormously satisfying novel." — Publishers Weekly

A contemporary Los Angeles story of uncrossable social lines, allegiance and betrayal, immeasurable power, and the ways the present is continuously shaped by the past. "Revoyr is gifted in her ability to deal with complex ideas like racism, class conflict, and sexuality without sacrificing the truth of her narrative. Furthermore, like the most adroit novelists, Revoyr specializes in reversal. All of her books are filled with suspense and sudden surprises that take the stories in unexpected directions . . . As much as Nina Revoyr herself is a student of history, she''s also one of our best teachers." — Los Angeles Review of Books "Revoyr''s latest noir tells a story that''s somewhere between Sunset Boulevard and the darker regions of The Great Gatsby . . . Revoyr is a subtle observer of human foibles and social structures, and the result is one of the most insightful, and the most entertaining books of the year." — Literary Hub, one of Literary Hub''s 50 Favorite Books of 2019 Rick Nagano is a graduate student in the history department at USC, struggling to make rent on his South Los Angeles apartment near the neighborhood where his family once lived. When he lands a job as a research assistant for the elderly Mrs. W—, the heir to an oil fortune, he sees it at first simply as a source of extra cash. But as he grows closer to the iconoclastic, charming, and feisty Mrs. W—, he gets drawn into a world of privilege and wealth far different from his racially mixed, blue-collar beginnings. Putting aside his half-finished dissertation, Rick sets up office in Mrs. W—''s grand Bel Air mansion and begins to transcribe her journals—which document an old Los Angeles not described in his history books. He also accompanies Mrs. W— to venues frequented by the descendants of the land and oil barons who built the city. One evening, at an event, he meets Fiona Morgan—the elegant scion of an old steel family—who takes an interest in his studies. Irresistibly drawn to Fiona, he agrees to help her with a project of questionable merit in the hopes he''ll win her favor. A Student of History explores both the beginnings of Los Angeles and the present-day dynamics of race and class. It offers a window into the usually hidden world of high society, and the influence of historic families on current events. Like Great Expectations and The Great Gatsby, it features, in Rick Nagano, a young man of modest means who is navigating a world where he doesn''t belong.

"A searing, anguished novel. . . . The narration and pace are expertly calibrated."—Los Angeles Times, on Wingshooters "Hauntingly provocative . . . an excellent choice for book discussion groups."—Library Journal, on Wingshooters Four people on a backpacking trip in the Sierra Nevada find more adventure than they ever imagined. Each of them is drawn to the mountains for a different reason. Gwen Foster, a counselor for at-risk youth, is struggling with burnout from the demands of her job. Real estate agent Oscar Barajas is adjusting to the fall of the housing market and being a single parent. Todd Harris, an attorney, is stuck in a lucrative but unfulfilling career—and in a failing marriage. They are all brought together by their trainer, Tracy Cole, a former athlete with a taste for risky pursuits. When the hikers start up a pristine mountain trail that hasn''t been traveled in years, all they have to guide them is a hand-drawn map of a remote, mysterious place called Lost Canyon. At first, the route past high alpine lakes and under towering, snowcapped peaks offers all the freedom and exhilaration they''d hoped for. But when they stumble onto someone who doesn''t want to be found, the group finds itself faced with a series of dangerous conflicts, moral dilemmas, confrontations with nature, and an all-out struggle for survival. Moving effortlessly between city and wilderness, Lost Canyon explores the ways that race, class, and culture shape experience and perception. It examines the choices good people must face in desperate situations. Set in the grand, wild landscape of the California mountains, Lost Canyon is a story of breathtaking adventure that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Nina Revoyr is the author of four previous novels, including Southland, a Los Angeles Times bestseller and "Best Book" of 2003.

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Jun Nakayama, premier acteur japonais à Hollywood, fut une star de l''épopée du 7e art des années 1910: coqueluche des fêtes fastueuses de Sunset Boulevard, il déclenchait l''hystérie des fans et la passion des comédiennes. Avant d''être confronté à la montée du racisme et à la mort du muet. Et qu''une sombre histoire de meurtre vienne entacher sa carrière...