River of no return

There is a myth that southern California is a desert watered by humans.
Quite the contrary. Through its heart, the Los Angeles river once flowed past
woodland and filled marshes. Now the river is an 80-kilometre, concrete-lined
storm drain that politicians from time to time suggest should be painted blue to
make it look more natural. So reports Blake Gumprecht in his admirable eponymous
study of the river’s “life, death and possible rebirth”. Published by Johns
Hopkins University Press, £33, ISBN 0801860474.