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Call Someplace
Paradise (Xlibris)
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Reviews of
Call Someplace Paradise
A great picture of the people and history of Venice........ chock full of engrossing anecdotes of Venice and its spirited locals. .................Pano Douvos
Pat Hartman is probably the most underrated journalist in America. Her style is eloquent, her vocabulary enormous, and her razor-sharp wit carves startling insights out of ordinary events. There is nothing ordinary, however, about this chronicle of six years in Venice Beach. This book is a time capsule spanning America's transition from unchecked freedom to ugly conservatism. If you're looking for character studies for a novel, you'll find hundreds of them: transgender rollerskaters, cutthroat comedians, heartbreakingly homeless bag ladies, and a spleef of hippies slipping past their prime. Timothy Leary's best (and worst) acid trips pale by comparison. One caveat: Pat Hartman's greatest work is yet to come. This book is full intense bursts of immaculate writing. I can't wait to see her stretch out. Get a first edition of this book so you can tell your kids you were into Pat Hartman before she won the Pulitzer (and so you can tell them what the late '70s were like -- since you probably can't remember). .......Steve O'Keefe, Patron Saint Productions
I got it yesterday and read the whole thing from cover to cover....I've never seen a book quite like it; sort of an autobiography of a town.....You really make the writing look easy and effortless, like you're just sitting across from someone having coffee tossing off one amusing and witty bon mot after another.......Ace Backwords
It's a wonderful book that has reminded me of much I'd forgotten about Venice in the late '70s, early '80s ................... Jim Smith
A really fine portrait of a community at a particular point in its history. I appreciated the very bluesy rhythm contained in the natural, chatty sort of voice that reminded me just a little of Jack Kerouac. I thought the observation from the bicycle helped maintain the rhythm. Some of the more gut-wrenching details will stay in my mind forever....always seemed to come back to the perpetual carnival that seems to be Venice, CA. ...........................Theresa Rose
I must say I sat down and devoured your book...I couldn't put it down.........................Paul Tanck
Only someone who lived in Venice for a period of time, as did the author, could write about it so thoughtfully as Hartman has. She has really captured the "spirit" of the area........very-true-to-life (as we know Venice)....It is the first insightful book of the area we can ever recall seeing....a big "thank you" to Pat Hartman for bringing it to life in her book. ............................ John Austin in Book Notes
This tribute to Venice, California will appeal to any who have a special interest in Southern California history and travel: Hartman's chapters cover 1978-84 and provide intimate first-person experiences and reflections on the culture and people she encounters in the area. Call Someplace Paradise is an intriguing, insightful collection of American vignettes ............. James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review, Bookwatch
Your book really validated a lot of feelings about my relationship with Venice which are so hard to express to others.....excellent book.....I really identified with your take on Venice....The era in your book is where I belong. You reminded me of things that I hadn't thought of for a while: the human juke box; antennae headbands (a roommate wore one constantly for one year); Swami X.....Thank you for your insightful journey into my past - and conflicts in the present. Although they say you can never go home, Call Someplace Paradise allowed me one last visit..................... Jennifer Smith
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ONE T or TWO?
An Authorial Digression
Guilty of spelling Abbot Kinney's name wrong - that's me.
When I was pulling together Call Someplace Paradise for publication, I had just come off two years as editor of an arts and entertainment paper. In that role, I considered the correct spelling of people's names second in importance only to the First Amendment.
So what I did at the time was consult the references I had on hand, and it seems Sweet William's book Venice of America: The American Dream Come True was the major culprit, as far as being a bad example - he's a two-t guy.
At the time I wasn't online, and other clippings and sources around the house could go either way on the Abbot/Abbott question. What I ended up doing was six of one and half a dozen of the other - there are a few instances of each spelling in my manuscript.
Later, I looked it up on Google and found 2540 citations for Abbot Kinney - so that's obviously right - yet 411 returns for Abbott Kinney - which is a sizable amount to be getting it wrong. So now I wonder how this two-t thing ever got started? There's a detective project in it, for somebody with too much time on their hands!