Jesse Katz

1 week ago | lataco.com | Jesse Katz

The Los Angeles hood movie flourished as a genre in the 1990s as Hollywood awoke to the dreams and dramas of the underserved communities in its own backyard. Some of those films became classics (Boyz n the Hood and Blood In, Blood Out), some stunk (Colors and Hot Boyz), and some satirized the whole concept (Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood).

Oct 7, 2024 | newsroom.ucla.edu | Jesse Katz

The morning after the biggest night of his life, Justin Torres was a wreck. Not too many hours earlier, amid the Greek revival splendor of Cipriani Wall Street in Manhattan, he’d been stunned by an announcement: Blackouts, his elliptical reclamation of lost queer histories, had just won one of American literature’s most prestigious honors, the National Book Award for fiction. Clad in a white tuxedo jacket and a droopy black-ribbon tie, Torres pantomimed a sprint as he made his way to the lectern.

Jul 16, 2024 | bookshop.org | Reparations Club |Jesse Katz

"Katz writes with a propulsive verve, his prose both evocative and raw ... Tackling immigration, the prison system, city ordinances, and the complicated bonds of family, the experience of reading The Rent Collectors is white-knuckle and, ultimately, wholly transformative." --Jeff Connelly, Booklist (Starred Review) "A searing account of gang violence and its consequences ...

Dec 21, 2023 | altaonline.com | Jesse Katz

Situated at the foot of a militarized wall that tells Mexicans, in ways both subtle and menacing, to keep their distance and know their place, Tecate is the only Pueblo Mágico on the border. It would seem almost impossible for a community to hold on to its magic under those circumstances, to ignore the ugly gash between nations, to retain an identity that’s neither party town nor staging ground. Yet Tecate lives up to the designation.

Apr 5, 2023 | ace.aaa.com | Jesse Katz