Author

David L. Ulin

@davidulin

David L. Ulin is the author or editor of 10 books, including "Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles," shortlisted for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. A 2015 Guggenheim Fellow, he is the former book editor and book critic of the Los Angeles Times.

"Draft No. 4": the legendary John McPhee's "master class in the writer's craft"

“Draft No. 4”: the legendary John McPhee’s “master class in the writer’s craft”

John McPhee’s great subject has always been work. From his first book, “A Sense of Where You Are,” which came out in 1965 and portrays basketball star and Rhodes Scholar…
December 21, 2017
Fake news and true facts, and the licenses taken in pursuit of narrative

Fake news and true facts, and the licenses taken in pursuit of narrative

A decade or so ago, shortly after I became book editor of the Los Angeles Times, I wrote a piece defending the liberties of memoirists. This was in the wake…
May 18, 2017
Why's This So Good? Hunter S. Thompson and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"

Why’s This So Good? Hunter S. Thompson and “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”

It’s hard, I know, to make a case for gonzo journalism in an age when reality is beset by exaggeration, even lies. And yet I’ve found myself drawn back to…
April 13, 2017