East of Los Angeles follows life in that part of Los Angeles that few people dream of. Here, we find suburbs fading into the deserts and forests that ring the city. Here, Brantingham grew up with the ever present noise and light of the world's busiest freeway. The people he writes about are making the best of the lives that they have found. "Our best writers weigh their words carefully, and John Brantingham is certainly one of them. He is a craftsman with a huge heart who cares deeply about people and stories and the chaos we call our lives. His characters are beautifully rendered, real and true, at once vulnerable and courageous. Wise and insightful, Brantingham's work brilliantly captures the light and darkness in us all."-James Brown, author of The L.A. Diaries