Clem Bastow’s Escape from L.A. is a one woman account of the quintessential twenty-something decision – the Australian-American dream of moving to Los Angeles to “make it” in the film industry. Hers is a tale of earthquakes, writing in a crowded Starbucks, getting asked for directions by a friendly Blood, and potent medicinal marijuana in the form of chocolate.

Very rarely does one person’s anecdote captivate you for the full duration. In fact, we tend to overestimate our lives as being much more interesting and worthy of telling than any audience. This does not hold true for Escape from L.A.. Bastow paints a hilarious picture of expectations crushed and dreams rearranged. She manages to capture the eccentricity of Los Angeles and the emptiness of Hollywood, perfectly likening it to the pixelated boundary walls of an MMORPG.

Bastow herself is engaging and endearing; self-deprecating without harping on the too-easy “struggling writer” material so available to her. Escape from L.A. is a fantastic comedic analysis of an insane city and the tropes it bestows unto its inhabitants; completely free from self-indulgent, “you had to be there” flops.

Highly recommended.

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