{"product_id":"the-mirage-factory-illusion-imagination-and-the-invention-of-los-angeles-9780451496386","title":"The Mirage Factory: Illusion  Imagination  and the Invention of Los Angeles","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom bestselling author Gary Krist  the story of the metropolis that never should have been and the visionaries who dreamed it into reality  Little more than a century ago  the southern coast of Californiabone-dry  harbor-less  isolated by deserts and mountain rangesseemed destined to remain scrappy farmland. Then  as if overnight  one of the worlds iconic cities emerged. At the heart of Los Angeles meteoric rise were three flawed visionaries: William Mulholland  an immigrant ditch-digger turned self-taught engineer  designed the massive aqueduct that would make urban life here possible. D.W. Griffith  who transformed the motion picture from a vaudeville-house novelty into a cornerstone of American culture  gave L.A. its signature industry. And Aimee Semple McPherson  a charismatic evangelist who founded a religion  cemented the citys identity as a center for spiritual exploration.  All were masters of their craft  but also illusionists  of a kind. The images they conjured upof a blossoming city in the desert  of a factory of celluloid dreamworks  of a community of seekers finding personal salvation under the California sunwere like mirages liable to evaporate on closer inspection. All three would pay a steep price to realize these dreams  in a crescendo of hubris  scandal  and catastrophic failure of design that threatened to topple each of their personal empires. Yet when the dust settled  the mirage that was LA remained.  Spanning the years from 1900 to 1930  The Mirage Factory is the enthralling tale of an improbable city and the people who willed it into existence by pushing the limits of human engineering and imagination.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45965811712053,"sku":"ByrdShop_0451496388","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780451496386.jpg?v=1788369873","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-mirage-factory-illusion-imagination-and-the-invention-of-los-angeles-9780451496386","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}