NONFICTION - Oct. 17, 1993

LOS ANGELES at 25mph by Steve Diskin and Joseph Giovannini. (Van Nostrand Reinhold: $29.95.) We are very partial to any book that admonishes us to: “Slow down!” Since getting out of the car is next to impossible, slowing down to 25 m.p.h. seems the next best thing. Wandering takes on new meaning though, as authors (Diskin, and architect and industrial designer and Giovannini, author, critic and a principal of Joseph Giovannini Associates, a New York City design firm) describe leisurely drives (strolls) to dead ends, cloverleaves, drive-through banks and quiet residential neighborhoods. The photos of streets and architectural details are unremarkable, but worst of all--no captions! Slow down and get lost! There is no way of telling where the photos were taken; no appendix, nothing. Natives can puzzle over landmark houses and familiar scenes, but newcomer-nerds with their trusty Thomas Guides are out of luck.