LA Breakdown

Lou Mathews is an American writer, novelist, journalist, playwright, and short story writer based in Los Angeles. Born in Glendale, California, he earned his B.A. degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1973, and his M.F.A. from Vermont College in 1987. His novel, L.A. Breakdown (1999), was noted by the Los Angeles Times as a "Best Book" of 1999. L.A. Breakdown depicts the street racing scene in Los Angeles circa 1967. Another notable work is his novel Shaky Town, published in 2021.

Mathews' short stories have been featured in anthologies such as The Pushcart Prize XV, The Pushcart Prize Anthology, The Best of the Pushcart Prize, L.A. Shorts, Love Stories for the Rest of Us, and The Gotham Writers' Workshop Fiction.

His nonfiction has appeared in publications including the Los Angeles Times, The L.A. Reader, L.A. Weekly, Mother Jones, Tin House, and L.A. Style. Mathews served as a contributing editor and restaurant reviewer at L.A. Style for eight years. Currently, he teaches fiction writing and literature at the UCLA Extension Writer's Program, where he was named "Teacher of the Year" in 2002.

Mathews has written several short plays, including Rancho Alisos, A Curse on Chavez Ravine, You Did Some Good Work Once, Jaws of Life, and a radio play, Captain Manners. His first full-length play, The Duke's Development, won second prize in the 2000 National Repertory Theatre Foundations National Playwriting Contest.

A short film adaptation of one of his stories, Crazy Life, directed by Dora Pena, premiered at the Barcelona Film Festival.

Throughout his career, Mathews has been honored with a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, a California Arts Council Fiction Fellowship, a Pushcart Prize, and a Katherine Anne Porter Prize. He is also one of eight recipients of the UCLA Extension Distinguished Instructor Award.