Chip Jacobs Explained

Chip Jacobs is an American author and journalist who has written multiple books of non-fiction, including the social histories Smogtown: The Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles (2008) and its follow-up, The People’s Republic of Chemicals (2014). His debut novel, Arroyo (2019), was a Los Angeles Times bestseller.^[1]

Writing

Non-fiction

With fellow investigative journalist William J. Kelly, Jacobs wrote the social history Smogtown: The Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles (2008), which Booklist praised as “remarkably entertaining and informative,”^[2] As a follow-up, Jacobs and Kelly wrote The People’s Republic of Chemicals (2014), which Kirkus called "hard-hitting" and "[a] scathing denunciation of how America outsourced its industrial capacity to China, a package that included catastrophic pollution."^[3]

His dark comedy, true crime book, The Ascension of Jerry (2012), was about a murder trial in 1979 Los Angeles.^[4] He also wrote the biography Strange As It Seems: The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler (2016), which Publishers Weekly called “exceptional” storytelling and a “peculiar page turner."^[5]

Fiction

Jacobs's debut novel, Arroyo (2019), is a work of historical fiction set around construction of Pasadena’s mysterious Colorado Street Bridge in 1913. It was a Los Angeles Times and Southern California Independent Booksellers Association bestseller.^[6]

Booklist magazine called Arroyo a "a riveting and enjoyable look at how local myths are constructed, and a vivid depiction of a time and a place that felt full of possibilities.”^[7] Library Journal said that Jacobs "handles the historical material superbly, skillfully relating the complicated and tragic story of the" Colorado Street Bridge's "construction while convincingly depicting a variety of famous historical figures.”^[8]

Life

Jacobs is from Pasadena, California.^[9]

Select works

• Smogtown: The Lung-burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles (2008), with William J. Kelly
• Wheeling the Deal: the Outrageous Legend of Gordon Zahler, Hollywood's Flashiest Quadriplegic (2008)
• The Ascension of Jerry: Murder, Hitmen, and the Making of L.A. Muckraker Jerry Schneiderman (2012)
• The People's Republic of Chemicals (2014), with William J. Kelly
• Strange as it Seems (2016)
• Arroyo: A Novel (2019)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Bestsellers. 2020-02-26. latimes.com. en.
2. Web site: Pitt. David. 2008-09-01. Smogtown: The Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200226014855/https://www.booklistonline.com/Smogtown-The-Lung-Burning-History-of-Pollution-in-Los-Angeles-Chip-Jacobs/pid=2867354 . 2020-02-26 . 2020-08-05. Booklist.
3. Web site: 2014-10-01. THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHEMICALS. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150216201656/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/william-j-kelly/the-peoples-republic-of-chemicals/ . 2015-02-16 . 2020-08-05. Kirkus.
4. Web site: 2012-05-17. Author Chip Jacobs Details Jerry Schneiderman Murder Triangle In New Book. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20120523025827/http://losangeles.cbslocal.com:80/2012/05/17/author-chip-jacobs-details-jerry-schneiderman-murder-triangle-in-new-book/ . 2012-05-23 . 2020-08-06. CBS Los Angeles. en-US.
5. Web site: Strange As It Seems: The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191219004608/https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-942600-24-4 . 2019-12-19 . 2020-02-26. Publishers Weekly.
6. Web site: Bookweb.com regional bestsellers. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200226014902/https://www.bookweb.org/sites/default/files/regional_bestseller/191023sc.txt . 2020-02-26 .
7. Web site: Moran. Alexander. 2019-09-20. Arroyo. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200226014903/https://www.booklistonline.com/Arroyo-Chip-Jacobs/pid=9724198 . 2020-02-26 . 2020-08-05. Booklist.
8. Web site: Chip. Jacobs. Arroyo. 2020-02-26. Library Journal.
9. Web site: Chapman. Justin. 2019-10-17. Local author Chip Jacobs launches 'Arroyo,' a historical novel about Pasadena and the origins of the Colorado Street Bridge, at Vroman's. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191023154140/https://pasadenaweekly.com/local-author-chip-jacobs-launches-arroyo-a-historical-novel-about-pasadena-and-the-origins-of-the-colorado-street-bridge-at-vromans/ . 2019-10-23 . 2020-08-06. Pasadena Weekly. en-US.