{"title":"Peter Moruzzi","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"palm-springs-paradise-book-peter-moruzzi-9781423639916","title":"Palm Springs Paradise","description":"\u003cb\u003eThis book collects more than two hundred fascinating and rarely seen historical photographs of Palm Springs, newly digitized from the Palm Springs Historical Society's expansive archive.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Featured are many Hollywood celebrities, including Sinatra and the Rat Pack, who vacationed there, the early days of the desert paradise, various architectural masterworks, such as the fabulous El Mirador Hotel and the extraordinary, outrageous, and irreverent people of Palm Springs.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49596522201361,"sku":"GOR010696968","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51025350623505,"sku":"NIN9781423639916","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51170817736977,"sku":"CIN142363991XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/142363991X.jpg?v=1766659038"},{"product_id":"greetings-from-los-angeles-book-peter-moruzzi-9781423647256","title":"Greetings from Los Angeles","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA fascinating tour of Los Angeles told through vintage images.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe City of Angels' story is told through a fun and colorful collection of old photos, picture postcards, brochures, ads, and other vintage ephemera, accompanied by author Peter Moruzzi's candid and insightful commentary.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFeatured are rare glimpses of the city's early years as a dusty pueblo; Chinatown's evolution; the miraculous orange empire; backyard oil wells; Venice of America; the roaring 1920s and corrupt 1930s; colorful evangelists; glamorous Wilshire Boulevard; fabulous nightclubs; movie studios and lavish stars' estates; and theme parks such as Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, and Marineland of the Pacific. Witness the birth of midcentury modernism, futuristic Googie coffee shops, and space-age LAX. Recall a postwar suburban paradise of drive-ins, bowling palaces, beach parties, Dodgers baseball, hot-rod culture, and mushrooming tract developments.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCalifornia natives, newcomers, and visitors alike will discover a largely forgotten history of Los Angeles, much of it lost to progress, as chronicled from the late 1800s through the mid-twentieth century.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49664601063697,"sku":"GOR012048269","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49942468755729,"sku":"CIN1423647254G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51025441751313,"sku":"NIN9781423647256","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51488174702865,"sku":"CIN1423647254VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1423647254.jpg?v=1751114862"},{"product_id":"havana-book-peter-moruzzi-9781423603672","title":"Havana","description":"Through vintage and contemporary photographs, brochures, and artifacts evocative of time and place, Havana Before Castro tells the story of the city that was the most popular exotic destination for Americans during the forty years between World War I and Castro's revolution. \u003cbr\u003e See how Havana evolved from Prohibition haven and rich man's playground to a heady blend of glittering nightclubs, outrageous cabarets, all-night bars, and backstreet brothels. \u003cbr\u003e Visit Havana's seamy Shanghai Theatre as well as its glamorous Tropicana, roam the stately Hotel Sevilla-Biltmore and ultramodern Habana Hilton. \u003cbr\u003e Savor a daiquiri at La Floridita (one of Hemingway's favorite watering holes), rub elbows with movie stars at Sloppy Joe's bar, and learn why Cuban cigars remain the world's most highly prized. \u003cbr\u003e Celebrate the influence of Cuban music on American popular culture-the rumba, mambo, cha-cha-cha, and salsa-from its earliest stars such as Xavier Cugat and Desi Arnaz to modern acts like the Buena Vista Social Club. \u003cbr\u003e Celebrate the city's architectural heritage, a Havana Modernism unique to Cuba's topography and climate. \u003cbr\u003e Follow the parade of corrupt presidents who, along with American mobsters such as Meyer Lansky, welcomed the mass tourism that led to Havana becoming a tropical Vegas swirling in a haze of rum and cigars, backed by a conga beat. \u003cbr\u003e Born in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1961 and raised in Hawaii, Peter Moruzzi graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and later attended the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. An architectural historian by profession, Moruzzi is an acknowledged expert on mid-century Modern architecture and design. He resides in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles and in Palm Springs, California. 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Through exclusive new and vintage photography, Moruzzi celebrates culinary pioneers and multigeneration restaurateurs, uncovers authentic gems, and debunks the predicted demise of the white tablecloth restaurant. The book includes a comprehensive directory of more than 200 classic restaurants found in cities from all 50 states. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eClassic restaurants range from continental-style fine dining, with their softly lit wood-paneled interiors, starched tablecloths, curved booths, tuxedoed captains, and tableside service, to historic establishments retaining original character, decor, ambiance, and traditional menus. The many restaurants featured in this book are archetypal examples found throughout America. All share an inviting time-machine quality. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCultural historian Peter Moruzzi is passionate about the mid-twentieth century: its nightlife, classic dining, and architecture. 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Learn about the establishments, some still with us and many long gone, where shish kabobs and bananas foster were grandly presented in flames, Caesar salad was prepared tableside, prime rib was served from fancy carts, and dishes such as oysters Rockefeller and lobster thermidor were the norm. --Flavorwire \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA glossy, full-color, coast-to-coast tour of the restaurants your parents or grandparents went to on fancy occasions--many of which are still with us, at least for the time being. --LA Weekly \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePeter Moruzzi makes your mouth water with a lavishly illustrated trip to the finest historic eateries in America. Your job: eat at them before they disappear. --John Rabe,Off Ramp KPCC.org \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe early-to-mid 20th century saw an explosion of Continental Fine Dining restaurants--dark-paneled places with with white tablecloths, where the entrees were named after billionaires, and the desserts were served flaming. Author Peter Moruzzi toured most of America's remaining examples of these time-machine restos to write his new book Classic Dining: Discovering Mid-Century Restaurants. --Rico Gagliano, The Dinner Party American Public Media (NPR) \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eClassic Dining: Discovering America's Finest Mid-Century Restaurants isn't just a history textbook, but also a living guidebook to the venerable old places that are still around today. --L.J. 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