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I am at the ruined Shell refinery. Bitumen was made here until 1986. Now it is shaggy yellow berms with rubble inside. Thistles, snails in a tube, a plastic-coated chain-link fence falls from the post, brambles with plastic bags. A concrete slab scoured by ocean waves. Rusted rebar, mounds of granite, shattered loading docks, a pipeline to nowhere. The refinery remains are eroding into the ocean.
From Edgar Allan Poe to Dean Koontz to Flannery O'Connor, America's editors and contributors are not (always) afraid of some horror.
After a few years of virtual ceremonies, the 42nd Los Angeles Times Book Prizes was held in person Friday at USC, kicking off the Festival of Books.
The awards recognize outstanding literary achievements in 12 categories, with winners to be announced at USC in-person on April 22.
For all of the mysticism in which his writings were drenched, Edgar Allan Poe benefited from living during a particularly rich period of scientific advancement.