Old 30's literary quote about Los Angeles being wasteland of shattered dreams

[red_dragon60]

I was listening to NPR on Jun. 26, and there was a literary quote about Los Angeles being filled with people who had become bored with the beaches and were tired, and how it was a wasteland of shattered dreams. It was from the 30’s, I remember that much. I looked on the NPR site for where the quote was from, but apparently I need to shell out $5 for the transcript. That’s bunk, so I am asking you folks if anyone knows.

[3waygeek]

I don’t know the specific quote you’re referring to, but from the subject matter and the time, I suspect it was probably from one of Raymond Chandler’s books; that should give you a place to start looking.

[dantheman]

You can hear it here:

http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/commentaries/2003/jun/

But I’m not sure to what it refers…

[red_dragon60]

Nathaniel West, from Day of the Locust. Thanks, everyone!

Once there, they discover that sunshine isn’t enough. They get tired of oranges, even of avocado pears, and passion fruit. Nothing happns… did they slave so long just to go to an occasional Iowa picnic? What else is there? They watch the waves come in at Venice. There wasn’t any ocean where most of them came from, but after you’ve seen one wave, you’ve seen them all.

[Sofa_King]

I suspect that 3waygeek’s brain is being tickled by the quotes which can be found on the back of just about any modern reprint of Chandler’s books. Ross MacDonald’s is pretty typical: “Chandler wrote like a slumming angel and invested the sun-blinded streets of Los Angeles with a romantic presence.”