The Mirage Factory: Illusion, Imagination, and the Invention of Los Angeles

Gary Krist ’79 explores three visionaries behind the rise of Los Angeles in The Mirage Factory (Crown): William Mulholland, an immigrant who taught himself engineering and designed the city’s aqueduct; D. W. Griffith, who made movies what they are today; and Aimee Semple McPherson, who founded a religion and made the city a center for spirituality.