A longtime historian of Los Angeles explores and deconstructs the mythical city of boosters, developers and "perpetual reinvention."

Life in the barrio changed me as a Jesuit. Part of my heart remains snagged on the razor wire surrounding Central Juvenile Hall; a portion of my soul is entwined with people whose language I speak so poorly. What began as a sabbatical from Loyola Marymount University quickly became a crash course in