You’ve probably heard of Patton Oswalt. He’s an actor, stand-up comic, and voice actor. His brother, Matt, is a writer and photographer. Over at the Daily Beast, he put together a showcase of sorts of his most recent photos highlighting his new coffee-table book, Liquor Stores and Detours. They are really stunning.

This bit about a secret world behind these liquor stores made me laugh.

I have an irrational theory that the reason LA liquor stores continue to thrive despite the onslaught of online sales is that they’re all fronts for a shadowy crime network. A certain purchase at a certain time of night is like a key that opens a secret world where anything is possible. Buying a snack cake is like a signal you need a gun professionally cleaned, or asking the clerk you’re desperate for a bottle of Löwenbräu is the code for getting a body disposed of. Can’t get the covid vaccine? Just buy a Zagnut bar.

But seriously, don’t sleep on your local liquor store.

I might have to buy this book.