The first critical examination of the groundbreaking work of the artist who exemplifies West Coast cool. Ed Ruscha was born in Nebraska and raised in Oklahoma, but he belongs to Los Angeles in a way that few other artists do. Since the 1960s, Ruscha's iconic images of the cityscape and culture of Los Angeles--freeway gas stations, parking lots, palm trees, motels, swimming pools, and billboards--have both reflected and shaped popular...