DAVID L. ULIN is the author or editor of a dozen books, including Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles, which was shortlisted for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. He has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Lannan Foundation, and the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute and is the former book editor and book critic of the Los Angeles Times.