The Bomo Effect

Barbara Bestor, local architect, released her book Bohemian Modern/Living in Silver Lake a few months ago.

The book features houses, shops, and people who define what Bestor believes to be a significant cultural force of eclectic and design oriented artists and creative types.

If you live in the area, or if you know Barbara...its like looking at a yearbook of people you probably see quite often. In part, it seems kinda cool. Makes you feel like you're part of something hip and influential. On the other hand, it seems kinda self-serving. Like through this book, a particular segment of Silver Lake (or should we say those east of Hollywood) have branded themselves instead of letting someone outside of the community attach the term.

I must also mention that this book suffers from the same problem that the LA Times article Ritzing up Silver Lake has with painting Silver Lake's neighborhood way too wide. But to be honest, I probably do the same thing. Echo Park, Elysian Park, Atwater, and many other neighborhoods get lumped into the Silver Lake realm. Funny, Echo Park has tons more historic significance then Silver Lake, but SL's cache is tremendous these days and it certainly not Barbara who is solely responsible for that.

I guess the whole thing is a bit close to me personally. For a variety of reasons. Regardless, I feel like the book is rather essential for those of us living in the area. And yeah, i got the limited edition signed soft-cover (with the droog inspired invisible spine) at A+R (a joint that opened just too late to get mentioned in the book). I recommend purchasing it over Amazon, where you can buy both the hard and soft-cover for about the same price i bought mine. I certainly hope that some day I may live in a house deemed worth of Bomo Vol. 2. Its a cool funky book. If not a little over designed.