Depth Takes a Holiday

I love the writing of Sandra Tsing Loh because she is incredibly witty and acerbic, and doesn't take herself or anything too seriously. And, she can write about the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles in language that makes it sound downright pleasant.Loh is the Queen of the San Fernando Valley, once a farming community over the hill from Los Angeles, but now a burgeoning suburb. Los Angelenos consider the Valley a foreign country, and, truth be told, getting from Los Angeles to the Valley is, literally, an uphill battle over the Sepulveda Pass. But, even though I lived there and know of whence she speaks, you don't need to be a Valley Girl to appreciate her humor.This book is a collection of essays on everything from temp jobs to frozen foods, being the less-perfect sibling, her late German mother and her eccentric Chinese father (who keeps importing and losing Chinese brides, and hitch hikes rides with Angelica Huston). Loh's eye is keen, and she can make the most mundane seem downright hysterical.Loh is a self-professed procrastinator when it comes to pumping out her writing, and I wish she would do more. But, her columns in the late, lamented Buzz magazine were a scream, and I can only hope she gets more columns and books and maybe even a television show. She is a rare gem.

Author Sandra Tsing Loh takes a look at contemporary Los Angeles in this engaging book of essays. She's very perceptive about pointing out the vanities and obsessions of L.A., and she fully enjoys the city. What clinched this book for me was the juxtaposition of Loh's fine, precise literary style with the often gonzo hyperbole of everyday life in an image-obsessed city. "Depth Takes a Holiday" is a great coming-of-young-adulthood story by a cultural survivor who emerged from the gloss and illusion with her mind, and voice, joyously intact.

Like many people, I first discovered Ms. Loh through her essays published in the now defunct LA magazine Buzz. Her clear, heavy pop-culure laced writing style is enormously pleasable to read and usually elicits frequent, uncontrollable laughter. I have found myself reading passages from this book to friends, some of whom have never even been to the San Fernando Valley or its environs... and they still laugh! If you enjoy reading humourous stories from the twentysomething unemployment front, the neurotic dating scene, and treatises on the socioeconomic seperation between LA and the Valley, this is your book. Even if you don't, I'm sure you'll find at least a few essays to identify with if you're in your in your 20s-30s, over-educated/under-employed, slightly neurotic, or if you have ever been any of these.

For anyone who interested in knowing about life experiences in the big city of Los Angeles I recommend Depth Takes a Holiday by Sandra Tsing Loh. Loh does a great job telling us about intresting experiences in a very humorous and funny way. Depth takes a Holiday includes and short stories such as Coming Home to Van Nuys, which talks about the big industry of the fast food restaurants in region of Los Angeles. Anyone who reads her book will be able to relate to at least one of her stories. Depth Takes a Holiday is enjoyable and funny book to read. I recommend this book to anyone who is ready to have some laughs.

Depth Takes a Holiday is a lighthearted compilation of essays on life in California and everything that entails living in this unique setting. Sandra Tsing Loh has put together a set of humorous as well as sarcastic thoughts about her experiences. It allows the reader to conjure up images of her descriptions as well as erasing the myths about life in California. The author has made it her task to convey the distortions that are made about Californian life and offers the reader a good laugh along the way. Depth Takes a Holiday is an excellent book for those seeking to find paradise in California as well as providing those who live there with an unspoken knowledge of life in the Golden State. -D.O.Ochoa, California State University, July 21, 1999