Preface

If your summer reading list still has a few, uh, gaps in it, we have some ideas. This week, the Los Angeles Times Magazine offers a special summer reading issue.

Of the four authors, three are either from Southern California or have written fiction that is heavily influenced by their experiences here.

“R.L.’s Dream” is an excerpt from a forthcoming novel by Walter Mosley, the author of “Devil in a Blue Dress” and three other Easy Rawlins L.A. detective novels. T. Coraghessan Boyle, who has recently moved from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara, examines two of our city’s conflicting cultures in his novel, “The Tortilla Curtain.” Mari Sunaida, a Venice writer, evokes an earlier time of life of the Sacramento River Delta in her short story, “Heat.” The fourth piece is by a writer whom Southern California readers will no doubt be hearing about: David Foster Wallace. “Infinite Jest” is from a novel of the same name, to be published early next year. You’ll also find a special edition of Palm Latitudes and Style.