Gary Phillips

Gary Phillips is the author of several novels, including the Martha Chainey Series and the Ivan Monk Series. He was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, and has been a community activist and union organizer. His most recent novel is Freedom’s Fight, about black soldiers in World War II. Read more about him below.

Q. Who would you choose to write your biography?

A. Upton Sinclair or Dashiell Hammett, if they were still around.

Q. If you were about to be executed, what would you want for your final meal?

A. Nothing …

More In: Art

Lost Buildings

In Lost Buildings, Jonathan Glancey compiles structures from ancient times to present day, some once real and some only imagined, that fell to war, commerce, natural disaster, or “fickle” architectural …

Richard Bernstein’s The East, the West, and Sex

The East, the West, and Sex: A History of Erotic Encounters
by Richard Bernstein

-Reviewed by Shahnaz Habib

Richard Bernstein’s The East, The West, and Sex is a swashbuckling, bodice-ripping romance in …

Oscar Garza Interviews Ned Sublette

Oscar Garza and Ned Sublette joined Zócalo for our conference, La Nueva Orleans? Race and Immigration in Post-Katrina America. Before the event began, the two sat down to chat about …

Luis Alberto Urrea

Luis Alberto Urrea is the best-selling author of 13 books. Born in Tijuana to an American mother and a Mexican father, Urrea uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater …

Edmund White’s City Boy

City Boy: My Life in New York During the 1960s and ’70s
by Edmund White

-Reviewed by Shahnaz Habib

Early in his memoir City Boy, Edmund White reminisces about his friendship with …