Although this blog centers around New York love, every once in a while METROPOLIS casts a thought to other U.S. cities. And it is undoubtedly true that an L.A. summer is a magical, mythical, quintessentially American concept. That's why I was so thrilled to come across the bohemian ode to the Los Angeles lifestyle in the form of the Weetzie Bat, young adult book series.

By the third sentence on the first page of the first book, the series had me hooked-- Weetzie is bemoaning her peers' non-appreciation of the city, announcing,

"They didn't care that Marilyn's prints were practically in their backyards at Graumann's; that you could buy tomahawk and plastic palm tree wallets at Farmer's Market, and the wildest, cheapest cheese and bean and hot dog and pastrami burritos at Oki Dogs; that the waitresses wore skates at the Jetson-style Tiny Naylor's; that there was a fountain that turned tropical soda-pop colors, and a canyon where Jim Morrison and Houdini used to live, and all-night potato knishes at Canter's, and not too far away was Venice, with columns, and canals, even, like the real Venice but maybe cooler because of the surfers."

And it is this sort of delicious detail, Francesca Lia Block's shining dedications to the city and independent art culture that make the book.

                      

Image courtesy of ilovewildfox.com-- Kimberly Gordon of the Wildfox clothing brand put together a very cool Weetzie Bat inspired photoshoot that is worth checking out!

Plotwise, Weetzie Bat follows the exploits of young, too-cool-for-school (very literally, the first couple pages are the only mentions of high school, then it's all cruising in Pontiacs and punk-rock gigs) Weetzie Bat and her handsome, mohawk-headed friend Dirk and their adventures looking for love. The pace of the books is strange, as forementioned, Weetzie leaves school almost immediately and, by the middle of the story, has a serious boyfriend and a baby.

The other books in the series follow the lives of Weetzie's children and friends, documenting their artsy lives and non-nuclear families. None of them have very clear or logical narratives, but they all come together nicely nonetheless, as the sort of slapped-together structure only mirrors the carefree lifestyle of Weetzie and her friends and family. And in all the books, Block adeptly picks through the California landscape, finding countless beautiful images: cowboy-boot rollerskates, carousels, and stained-glass Marilyn Monroes.

If you're looking to get lost in a glitzy, glittery simple summer read, the Weetzie Bat books come highly recommended.