Hg2 Los Angeles
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Los Angeles Guidebook.
UK price: £13.99.
Pros: Stylish, well-researched, good on restaurants and bars.
Cons: Expensive, uncritical, gushing, superficial.
Verdict: Fine for a short, crazy city break - hopeless if you want to delve deeper.
Rating: 
Available from: Amazon.co.uk
Product Review
The latest city guide from the London-based trendy guidebook publisher Hedonists’ Guides.
Trendy? Well, for starters the matt black outer sleeve is so cool it only covers two-thirds of the hardcover underneath, which in turn is just black with just the line: ‘Hg2 Los Angeles’ in mint green. More mint green pages inside, including blank ones headed “Shopping list”, “Telephone numbers’ or “Notes”.
Hmmm… Does that mean it’s all style and no content? Literally?
No, actually there’s some good nitty gritty info in this book that’s the size of a small paperback. It’s best on bars and restaurants. But don’t expect to read about the history of the area, the layout of the city, the social background, the politics… this is a book for partying city breakers.
In fact, there’s no criticism of anything, just well-researched if over-gushing sections listing “cool” bars, restaurants, hotels and clubs. If you want a book with more pages about shopping than sights - this is it.
Needless to say Hg2 LA doesn’t mention how to access Malibu Beach past the beach-houses of the Hollywood stars, doesn’t advise which areas are safe or not, and at one point tell us that the population is “gorgeous”.
My impression of LA over the years doesn’t quite coincide with that. I’ve had a great time but I’ve also seen some bad, bad things. This book’s superficial glossy brochure approach made me feel a bit depressed.
And with guidebooks you always must remember how they date compared with internet sites like this one. The book is brand new as I review it but it was actually formally published four months ago, which means the writing was finished at least six months ago and researched even longer ago. Some of it is likely to be a year old even if you buy it within a month. By the time you actually get to LA at least some will be out-of-date. Bars and clubs change fast but guidebooks don’t.
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