Community Corner

Noir Love Story Book Release at Skylight Books; Kim Cooper to Discuss and Sign 'The Kept Girl'

Author Kim Cooper will discuss and sign copies of The Kept Girl at her book release party at Skylight Books on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m.

Matthew Specktor, author
of American Dream Machine, said the following about the book: "Nervy, bold, and shot through with a deep sense of Los Angeles
history—the kind that feels practically tactile, as all the best noir
narratives do—Kim Cooper's The Kept Girl is a delightful
addition to this city's literature. The effortlessness with which it
borrows against the Chandler tradition while at the same time retaining
its unique intelligence and slyly contemporary flavor is just plain
stunning. I can't commend it highly enough."

Book synopsis:
Kim Cooper's The Kept Girl
is inspired by a sensational real-life Los Angeles cult murder spree
which exploded into the public consciousness when fraud charges were
filed against the cult's leaders in 1929.




The victim was the nephew of oil company president Joseph Dabney,
Raymond Chandler's boss. In the novel, Chandler, still several years
away from publishing his first short story, is one of three amateur
detectives who uncover the ghastly truth about the Great Eleven cult
over one frenetic week.




Informed by the author's extensive research into the literary,
spiritual, criminal and architectural history of Southern California, The Kept Girl is a terrifying noir love story, set against the backdrop of a glittering pre-crash metropolis.


Event sponsor Lagunitas Brewing Company will serve beer.


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