When I read Alicia Erian’s remarkable first novel, Towelhead, I thought of the romanticized image from the film American Beauty: the teenage girl surrounded by rose petals. Ironically, that girl, a protagonist and the object of Kevin Spacey’s lust, was the least-known character in the film.

Jonathan Coe’s polyphonous novel The Rotter’s Club retells the story of pre-Thatcherite England, a time when one might hope that “the Irish question will be over in two years,” through the lives of four schoolboys.

Perhaps because he emigrated from Cuba at 14, Leon Ichaso, a self-taught director with an eclectic background, has always had an affinity for outsiders—be it fellow immigrants (El Super, 1979)…

The Frogs, who’ve been writing and recording for 20 years, diverge (to some degree) from their basement roots to make an album with slightly more production value.

The aptly named Happy, Texas makes a case for rehabilitation when two escaped prisoners steal an RV and gain humanity by taking on the personae of a gay couple on their way to direct a “little miss” beauty pageant. 

If, according to the Peter Principle, every corporate employee rises to his or her level of incompetence, isn’t it possible that this applies to machines as well?

My sister, a therapist, gave me a psychological test. It addressed modes of thinking. All seemed normal except for one area. Apparently logic has a very tenuous position in my brain, often rousted by intuition to wander aimlessly through a universe of subjectivity. 

A friend of mine once conjectured, What if the ’60s weren’t an era, but a place one could still visit?

Remember those wild, self-destructive kids in high school who no one could imagine as functioning adults. 

From the street to the charts: post-feminist, all-female rock group Luscious Jackson on their influences, band democracy, and distaste for toxic people.

Actress, producer, director speaks to Lynn Geller about the what it takes to be a successful woman in the industry: three day fasts and cannibalism…

More concerned with portraying the truth than appearing politically correct, YoYo raps about topics like drug addiction, teenage pregnancy and domestic violence.

With songs that explored the darker sides of LA’s culture in the early ’80s, Exene Cervenka and her band X’s unique brand of folky punk rock has made them a permanent fixture in LA’s musical history.

“If the beats ain’t right, you ain’t right. But I can take a little bit of one thing and make it big. You can give me anything and I’ll know what to do with it.”

2 Black 2 Strong and his right hand man, Warchild, discuss racism in the media, growing up and getting out of the ghetto, and the symbolism behind the American flag.

Singer/Songwriter Victoria Williams has a gift for storytelling like those of the literary masters she admires. Her songs have a gospel style that can be traced back to her childhood in Louisiana.

Ed Lachman continues to work as a cinematographer with some of our era’s most visionary directors. His perceptive eye and earnest voice are a welcome departure from an industry overshadowed by greed and consumerism.