Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Sample Book Insights:

#1 I grew up in West Hollywood in the 1970s, and I remember how colorful the area was. It had the aesthetic of old cars, the way everyone idealizes Havana, and the wildly different styles of architecture from one house or apartment building to another.

#2 I had many questions about what was this or what was that as a kid, and the birds-of-paradise plants next to my house exemplified everything in the neighborhood: it couldn’t be defined. The couple who lived next door to me had a Dalmatian named McBarker.

#3 My mother and I moved to the valley in 1983, which was why I still spoke like a valley girl at age eight. I was disgusted that we were moving away from the birds-of-paradise, and I didn’t understand why my mother was managing my career full-time.

#4 I moved back to West Hollywood, and I bought a house right in the old neighborhood. I wanted to be in the familiar. I worked with a landscape architect named Marcello, who helped me understand how to prune the leaves off the vines every year.