Urban Odyssey

Sam Hall Kaplan is a renowned print and broadcast journalist, activist urban planner, and teacher, who in a seventy-year career has been a New York Times reporter, Los Angeles Times design critic, and Emmy Award-winning television commentator. His books include The Dream Deferred, L.A Lost & Found, and L.A. Follies.

• Introduction1. The Stoop, and City Beyond2. Jobs and Bosses3. Wide-Eyed and Bushy-Tailed4. City Desk Diversions5. Saint Jane of Planning6. Good Times, Bad Times7. Reality Bites8. Dreams Deferred9. Jumping Rock to Rock10. Los Angeles Beckons11. Welcome to the Land of Sunshine and Shadows12. “L. A.’s The Place”13. Persevering Preservation14. Planning, for Better or Worse15. The Art and Angst of Architecture16. Moving On17. Disney Hall and its Discontents18. Critic at Bay19. Tough Love Urban20. Teaching as a Delight21. Ever the Iconoclast 22. Community Planning Challenged23. Critic Unbound24. Reading Architecture25. Misanthropic Malibu26. The Fire and the Aftermath27. Democracy’s Soft Underbelly28. Going ForwardAfterthoughtsIndexAbout the Author

“An Urban Odyssey: A Critic’s Search for the Soul of Cities and Self is Kaplan's well-earned celebration of his own career and an uncannily comprehensive history of planning and development in Los Angeles. Kaplan's chops as a beat reporter and objective observer are undeniable. Kaplan holds forth on the good, bad, and absurd in land use with a well-earned authority.” —Josh Stephens, California Planning & Development Report“This is an engaging and highly readable memoir, written with the author’s characteristic acerbic wit. Whether or not one agrees with the author’s views on urban planning, his book offers a look at an extraordinary life, well lived.” — Suzanne Guldimann, Topanga New Times“A Zelig of urbanism, Kaplan has rubbed shoulders—and rankled egos—with seemingly every major player in modern urban design and architecture. His very enjoyable memoir outlines his consistent mission that planning and architecture need to serve the public. Kaplan has no fear of losing a job or access, as his first allegiance is to the greater community. He always considers the full scope of a building’s effect on its users—workers, builders, patrons—before any artistic gesture. Stalwartly writing his mind—paying no heed to trend or hype—Kaplan consistently maintains that if something looks good but isn’t user-friendly, then it isn’t architecture.” — Julie D. Taylor, Hon. AIA/LA, Society of Architectural Historians/Southern California Chapter“One of the finest journalists of his generation.” — Tom Johnson, former CNN President & Publisher of the LA Times“Unapologetic populist.” — John Rabe, Award-winning radio host and producer