Ghost Town: A Venice California Life

by Pat Hartman

This is a new copy of the trade paperback, 542 pages, signed by the author with a plain autograph or a special inscription.

There is a book genre described by Russ Rymer as "inspecting America´s racial trauma through the lens of private experience, as it plays out in the daily difficulties of particular persons in one or another microcosmic place." Here the microcosm is Oakwood, a hotbed of diversity and danger called Ghost Town by its own citizens. The particular persons are a white single mother, age 30, and her 11-year-old, half-black daughter, along with a stellar cast of roommates, boyfriends, and neighbors.

Ghost Town: A Venice California Life is a psychological adventure story that takes place in a challenging environment where many people would never consider trying to live. Much has been said and written about racial dynamics by people who, however well-informed and well-intentioned, may talk the talk but haven´t walked the walk. Whether by lack of inclination or of opportunity, many experts on race relations have never actually lived in a racially mixed neighborhood, let alone where their own group is a minority. In an environment that forces thought about race issues every single day, it´s a different world.

For a much more detailed description, see VirtualVenice, then return here with your "back" button.

Ghost Town on a CD in PDF format

Another book about Venice, California: Call Someplace Paradise.

Paintings of Venice, California

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