Customer Reviews

Smile Southern California, You're the Center of the Universe: The Economy and People of a Global Region (Stanford General Books)

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I am overwhelmed by the intolerance running amuck these days between the political left and the right. The huge hubbubb over Lavine's book is causing such a stir that a book of calm reflection, such as Mr. Flanigan's Smile Book can get unfairly overshadowed
Finding a book with facts and personal success stories which point to a positive economic future for California is really a pleasant breath of clean and fresh air.
I was enthralled by Mayor Reardon's comments and the rest of the book is just as interesting and full of uplifting observations about our beloved California. Hooray for Flanigan and his huge smile! This book radiates with a warmth, understanding and respect for our times as no other
book I have found. Read it and share the good news with others.

Jim Flanigan has written a book that will make the most boosterish Chamber of Commerce member blush. He make claims about the future of Southern California that seem outrageous given the current economy and yet they are probably true. In about 22 BCE Herod built a new harbor for the Mediterranean city of Caesarea and as a result for 300 years it was the center of trade in the Eastern Mediterranean. The same thing is happening in Southern California. But it is not just ports. It is universities, airports and new ways of forming capital. And most of all it is Immigrants. With today's immigrants to LA Flanigan points out "the emphasis is on success in the new land and the advantage of connections in the old."
Flanigan fails to point out two advantages that the United States and therefore Southern California have over competing cities like Mexico City, Beijing and Seoul is that we have high regard for the rule of law and a high degree of meritocracy.
Flanigan writes in the factual style of a newspaper reporter. His writing is excellent and his example are full off hope. If you want to see the positive side of immigration, globalization, automation, outsourcing and the economy in general; read this book and smile,

Jim Flanigan has always been a writer of the facts. No opinions. I continue to search and try to attend where he is speaking and appearing and where his writing is featured because of the amount of information I absorb from his research. His stories and columns are very interesting and educational. Smile California is again facts. How we succeed. No negative thoughts here.
We are the great Country. We are in a Global Economy. We will survive and achieve more success in this Global
ecomomy. Stories in Flanigans Book are so uplifting. Good read.

I have been reading Jim Flanigan's columns in the LA Times since I first came to Southern California in 1982. He always told a good story; complex issues distilled into easily digestible morsels that went down well with Sunday morning breakfast. This book continues his tradition of wrapping those same complex issues into immensely readable stories. He tells of real people and their struggles to succeed. Behind the patina of "LaLa Land" there is a thriving business life that he captures beautifully in "Smile Southern California". If you want to know where the next great economic revival will take place, read this book.

I've been in the doldrums over every scrap of news (except maybe college basketball this season), and feeling depressed about "these economic times" to the point of paralysis. Then I was presented with Smile, Southern California, You're the Center of the Universe. Honest and upbeat, this book describes why Southern California is still the leader in economic growth, trends of all kinds, import/export, and in welcoming entrepreneurs from all over the world. James Flanigan clearly lays out why the California southland is poised to take off (again). He explains the unique synergy of California from immigration to the transportation hubs in the Inland Empire, from institutes of higher learning to traffic on the 405 freeway. Southern California hasn't had a clearer chronicle since Jack Smith was writing for the Chandlers' LA Times. The book takes into account bailouts, deficits, overcrowding and explains how Southern California has succeeded and will succeed.

Jim Flanigan's book is a fascinating and well researched study that focuses the reader's view of the Southern California economy from a new perspective. Well worth reading.

Despite its amusing title, the book is a serious examination of how the dramatic growth of trade with Asia has shifted Southern California to the center of the nation's world trade activity. But the dramatic shift in goods and services, from east to west, is only part of the story, as a diverse wave of successful immigrants and a reservoir of local technology has created a booming group of entrepreneurs that have transformed many of the world's industries.

Flanigan analyzes how the decline of highly visible major corporations, such as the aerospace firms that once dominated Southern California, unleashed a talented pool of scientists and engineers to pioneer new industries, such as cellular telephones, and internet based businesses. Adding to the mix is the region's long standing leadership in movie industry imagination and graphics, which has re-invented itself to supply the infrastructure for Southern California's leadership in electronic games.

He discusses a largely unseen booming economy that exists below the radar of the large corporations, such as automobile manufacturing and steel, which in the past, but no longer, were the visible measures of a region's economic power.

For the skeptic who might think that the book is an example of local boosterism, Flanigan supplies an overwhelming number of specific examples to buttress his study.

What a great introduction to SoCal. The book reads quickly... Flanigan's style is to-the-point and full of interesting facts, lore, and insights!

very good non-fiction , easy reading stories about people in our economy. informative and most interesting.
I recomment it highly.

Sequoia communications is already out of business. In such a changing economy, a look at the origins of the companies might not send you home with the insight of what makes a company that sticks in business.
Avaz network bought by Quatrics.

James Flanigan provides a fascinating look at the entrepreneurs and visionaries at the core of California's economy, while at the same time being as enjoyable and readable as a novel. I was particularly interested in the chapters focused on immigrant entrepreneurs who are spurring California's economy, which in many ways factors into the global economy. And interviews with everyone from power brokers, in-fluencers, and quiet movers and shakers brings to life an important part of California's history, influence, and importance.