THIS ANGELIC LAND – One Man’s Journey Through Riot-Torn Los Angeles

Aris Janigian’s third novel This Angelic Land is a poignant story of 27 year-old Adam Derderian’s journey to find his place in America. His family, having fled from Beirut, have settled in L.A.’s Little Armenia. The backdrop is the LA riots of 1992 and Adam’s quest to make sense of it all — but the story takes the reader in and out of the six-day riots back to Adam’s childhood in Lebanon, his college friendship with a Hancock Park playboy, an academic, and a Kurdich scenic artist. Beautifully crafted, Janigian, never ceases to surprise the reader. It is a book you don’t want to put down and a story you don’t want to end because the writing and the characters are so compelling. I highly recommend This Angelic Land.

D. J. Waldie call’s This Angelic Land “Today’s necessary book” during his commentary at KCET.  Read D. J. Waldi’s review in the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Another review was posted on the OC Weekly blog.

To read an excerpt of the novel click here.

To order your copy click here.

Praise for Bloodvine

“Aris Janigian is a strong, welcome new voice.” Los Angeles Times

“(An) absorbing debut novel…(Janigian) brings immediacy and naturalism to the story of the Armenians who immigrated to California.” Washington Post
Praise for Riverbig

…”an engrossing, satisfying tale of betrayal, feud and redemption.” Publisher’s Weekly 

About the Author
Aris Janigian is the author of Bloodvine, and Riverbig, and the co-author, with April Greiman, of Something for Nothing. From 1993 to 2005 he was senior professor of Humanities at Southern California Institute of Architecture. He was a contributing writer to West, the Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine, a finalist for the William Saroyan Fiction Prize, and the recipient of the Anahid Literary Award from Columbia University. He is a contributing writer to thenervousbreakdown.com.