{"product_id":"book-br8j","title":"West of Eden","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES \u003c\/i\u003eBESTSELLER • An epic, mesmerizing oral history of Hollywood and Los Angeles from the author of the contemporary classic \u003ci\u003eEdie\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJean Stein transformed the art of oral history in her groundbreaking book \u003ci\u003eEdie: American Girl,\u003c\/i\u003e an indelible portrait of Andy Warhol “superstar” Edie Sedgwick, which was edited with George Plimpton. Now, in \u003ci\u003eWest of Eden,\u003c\/i\u003e she turns to Los Angeles, the city of her childhood. Stein vividly captures a mythic cast of characters: their ambitions and triumphs as well as their desolation and grief.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese stories illuminate the bold aspirations of five larger-than-life individuals and their families. \u003ci\u003eWest of Eden\u003c\/i\u003e is a work of history both grand in scale and intimate in detail. At the center of each family is a dreamer who finds fortune and strife in Southern California: Edward Doheny, the Wisconsin-born oil tycoon whose corruption destroyed the reputation of a U.S. president and led to his own son’s violent death; Jack Warner, the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants, who together with his brothers founded one of the world’s most iconic film studios; Jane Garland, the troubled daughter of an aspiring actress who could never escape her mother’s schemes; Jennifer Jones, an actress from Oklahoma who won the Academy Award at twenty-five but struggled with despair amid her fame and glamour. Finally, Stein chronicles the ascent of her own father, Jules Stein, an eye doctor born in Indiana who transformed Hollywood with the creation of an unrivaled agency and studio.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn each chapter, Stein paints a portrait of an outsider who pins his or her hopes on the nascent power and promise of Los Angeles. Each individual’s unyielding intensity pushes loved ones, especially children, toward a perilous threshold. \u003ci\u003eWest of Eden\u003c\/i\u003e depicts the city that has projected its own image of America onto the world, in all its idealism and paradox. As she did in \u003ci\u003eEdie,\u003c\/i\u003e Jean Stein weaves together the personal recollections of an array of individuals to create an astonishing tapestry of a place like no other.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRead by Scott Brick, Paul Boehmer, Tara Sands, Cassandra Campbell, Arthur Morey, Mark Bramhall, Kathleen McInerney, Ann Marie Lee, Fred Sanders, Jorjeana Marie, Keith Szarabajka, Will Damron and Bruce Mann.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Compulsively readable, capturing not just a vibrant part of the history of Los Angeles—that uniquely ‘American Place’ Stein refers to in her subtitle—but also the real drama of this town … It’s like being at an insider’s cocktail party where the most delicious gossip about the rich and powerful is being dished by smart people, such as Gore Vidal, Joan Didion, Arthur Miller and Dennis Hopper… . Mesmerizing.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49335157588272,"sku":"BDbr8j","price":22.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/br8j-Square-cover.jpg?v=1776545458","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-br8j","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}