L.A. Man: Profiles from a Big City and a Small World (Rare Bird Books | April 17, 2018) collects the best and boldest of Donnelly’s profiles—illuminating a time and place in Los Angeles worth preserving. Donnelly emerges as a sort of West Coast George Plimpton, taking his subjects by the horns—at the pool table, in the surf, or simply by pushing their buttons until they reveal themselves.

Within you’ll find that Donnelly has not only written definitive pieces on the likes of Wes Anderson,Sean Penn, Drew Barrymore, Christian Bale, and more at critical junctures in their careers, but also captured the essence of underground figures such as Dogtown’s Z-Boys (before their Hollywood makeover), outsider artist Craig Stecyk, the surfing Malloy Brothers, and others who influenced the West Coast zeitgeist. L.A. Man is a thoroughly lived-in portrait of Los Angeles in the new century, from the perspective of someone who lives its rhythms and speaks its language.

Advanced Praise:

“Donnelly writes with big-hearted, languid elegance about migrating wolves, mad criminals, surf and skate pioneers, musicians, movie stars, and mortality. Each piece charts its own course, but the overall effect is that of a freewheeling ride through a gritty Southern Californian zeitgeist.”

—Luke Davies, Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Lion;author of Candy, Interferon Psalms, God of Speed.

“ Joe Donnelly gravitates toward characters who have heart and portrays them with insight and humanity. I’ve yet to read one of his profiles without feeling that I got to know the subject and benefited from the encounter.”

—Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic

“What a pleasure to ride shotgun with Joe Donnelly, a Los Angeles journalist who tells the story of a city through its artists, outlaws and other raconteurs.”

—Manohla Dargis, co-chief film critic, New York Times

“Man can Donnelly write. About a West Coast culture he helped shape; about the mad dream of Los Angeles, about what it means to be human—a very cool collection!”

—Steven Kotler, New York Times-bestselling author of The Rise of Superman, Stealing Fire, Bold and Abundance