City of Quartz by Mike Davis

City of Quartz by Mike Davis

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Summary

Reconstructs Los Angeles's shadow history and dissects its ethereal economy. This work tells us who has the power and how they hold on to it. It gives us a city of Dickensian extremes, Pynchonesque conspiracies, and a desperation straight out of Nathaniel West.

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City of Quartz by Mike Davis

No metropolis has been more loved or more hated. To its official boosters, "Los Angeles brings it all together." To detractors, LA is a sunlit mortuary where "you can rot without feeling it." To Mike Davis, the author of this fiercely elegant and wide- ranging work of social history, Los Angeles is both utopia and dystopia, a place where the last Joshua trees are being plowed under to make room for model communities in the desert, where the rich have hired their own police to fend off street gangs, as well as armed Beirut militias. In City of Quartz, Davis reconstructs LA's shadow history and dissects its ethereal economy. He tells us who has the power and how they hold on to it. He gives us a city of Dickensian extremes, Pynchonesque conspiracies, and a desperation straight out of Nathaniel Westa city in which we may glimpse our own future mirrored with terrifying clarity. In this new edition, Davis provides a dazzling update on the city's current status.
Absolutely fascinating-- William Gibson
Few books shed as much light on their subjects as this opinionated and original excavation of Los Angeles from the mythical debris of its past and future. * San Francisco Examiner *
A history as fascinating as it is instructive. -- Peter Ackroyd * The Times *
Mike Davis is the author of several books including City of Quartz, Late Victorian Holocausts, and Planet of Slums. He is the recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and the Lannan Literary Award. He lives in San Diego.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9781844675685
ISBN 10 1844675688
Title City of Quartz
Author Mike Davis
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Verso Books
Year published 2006-09-17
Number of pages 441
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note Unavailable