Gary Phillips on Violent Spring

Tuesday, December 17, at 2 PM on KPFK, I am joined in a final December 2024 Fund Drive edition of the show by writer Gary Phillips to discuss, revisit, and generally celebrate his debut novel, Violent Spring, published thirty years ago. It’s become a classic of both the detective genre and Los Angeles lit, a must-read for its winning characters and thoughtful, funny, often radical engagement with history. In the first of his Ivan Monk series, Phillips responded to the post-1992 civil unrest as both writer and activist, creating a winning mystery story and also addressing a larger socio-political mystery by interrogating power, capitalism, and race relations with an eye toward portraying LA at street level and through its diverse populations. Phillips reads from Violent Spring and reflects on the book’s impact, enduring relevance, and his long career.

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