Exploring the transition from the public realm of publishing to the secretive operations of the CIA, the author shares experiences from his unique journey through Damascus, the Golan Heights, and Hollywood. As a National Geographic fieldworker and translator, he connects with fellow hidden professionals, like stunt actors. The narrative reveals the complexities of intelligence work, where success is defined by clandestine missions rather than fame, offering readers an intriguing glimpse into a shadowy world of counterterrorism and covert analysis.
“Peter Theroux, as a brilliant translator and writer, has taught western readers about the Arabic world. Now, with Translating LA , Theroux crosses new borders―in southern California. With great wit and energy, he shows us the Los Angeles we have not understood well enough. He deconstructs and reconstructs the city famous for its separate freeway exits until finally and for the first time (like newcomers from a foreign land) we see Los Angeles whole.” ―Richard Rodriguez At a time when it is America’s leading candidate for the star role of Armageddon, Los Angeles still reigns as the destination p ar excellence and de facto trendsetter for the United States. Despite its curse of ancient and modern-day plagues―what other city can claim the rights to earthquakes and smog as well as riots and gang warfare?―Los Angeles remains the mythical source for the blood flowing through the American heart: the "pot of gold" that lies on the other coast of the rainbow. In Translating L A, Peter Theroux leads us beyond the rainbow in an affectionate and anecdotal guide to the human centers of Los Angeles. By bringing LA's thousand-and-one ethnic enclaves together with its broad range of social classes, Theroux understands LA by stretching across its fault lines with results that are "surprising and illuminating" ( LA Reader ). With its genuine sensitivity towards past, present, and future, Translating LA searches the souls of Angelenos to deliver a remarkable commentary on America's most complex and diverse city.
