"Paradise" is a 1933 essay by novelist James M. Cain published in the March edition of H. L. Mencken's American Mercury. The non-fiction piece provides a first-hand portrait of Southern California during the Great Depression. Cain, an Easterner raised in Annapolis, Maryland, was a recent immigrant to the West Coast. The article presents his impressions of the geography, climate, architecture, cuisine and character of the most first and second-generation residents of the greater Los Angeles area. Cain's overall evaluation of the region and its prospects for the future are generally positive: "...when you come to consider the life that is encountered here, you have to admit that there is a great deal to be said for it". Source: Wikipedia (en)