Doug Morgan is a young Irishman in Los Angeles with ten grand in his pocket and self-destruction in mind. With this premise, you could be forgiven for thinking that David Louden's 'Lost Angeles' would be little more than a comical booze-fuelled odyssey through the low (and high) life of Noughties Hollywood. But what Louden achieves is much greater than this. By contrasting and paralleling Morgan's misadventures in the acid neon glare of the clubs and dives of L.A.with the unravelling relationship in wintryBelfast that led him there, Louden has created a work of depth and warmth that means for once, Bukowski comparisons are justified. Louden has a turn of phrase that could put bigger names to shame, and an eye for detail that means his Belfast and North Hollywood are as sharply-defined as the well-drawn characters. Moving, big-hearted and often hilarious, Louden has produced something genuinely special. Not to be missed.
