The Evolutionary Cycle of Glamour and Decay The recent articles in The Atlantic about Jackie Collins' novels and the contemporary literary scene in Los Angeles have sparked a fascinating conversation about the city's enduring fascination with glamour, power, and degradation.
At first glance, it may seem like a nostalgic exercise to revisit Collins' 1980s Hollywood thrillers, but her work is more than just a relic of a bygone era. Collins' novels captured the essence of L. A.
's binary landscape – sunshine or noir? – which has been a defining feature of the city's literary canon since Raymond Chandler's hard boiled detective fiction.