Life Imitating Art

Not that I consider my book "art," but I started writing five years ago and recent events in the news seem ripped from Chapter 23 and 35 of Gone To Ground. Part of what motivated me to write was to consider how a nutball developer with limitless resources might manufacture a massive relocation and try to compel a community to get up and move out. In LA a few years ago, there was a gas leak that served this purpose and I considered using it.

Earthquakes are synonymous with Southern California, so I came up with a device to work that in and even included a few chapters which were later struck about the seismograph in Cal Poly. It has almost a religious quality to it - everyone turns to see it etch out the latest profile of whatever temblor rocked the area.

But perhaps the most outlandish piece of the Jones hyper-speed gentrification program was the use of ICE to drive the Shoe into a state of paranoia culminating in the destruction of Valley Mercado.

And so today's sad story from the very real world of East LA is found here: https://www.pbssocal.org/news-community/this-beloved-mexican-market-in-la-is-losing-business-amid-immigration-raids

And the raids like this one bear uncanny resemblance to some of the door-busting tactics I included in Chapter 18 (?):

https://t.co/gkJuOnKmUq https://x.com/donwinslow/status/1938727142742962571?s=51

Last but not least, today's NYTimes detailing the general sense of fear turning much of Boyle Heights into a real life version of the Shoe (gotta read the book). It comes out 7/31!

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/us/latinos-los-angeles-immigration.html