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Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster Paperback – September 7, 1999
| Mike Davis (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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Earthquakes. Wildfires. Floods. Drought. Tornadoes. Snakes in the sea, mountain lions, and a plague of bees. In this controversial tour de force of scholarship, unsparing vision, and inspired writing, Mike Davis, the author of City of Quartz, revisits Los Angeles as a Book of the Apocalypse theme park. By brilliantly juxtaposing L.A.'s fragile natural ecology with its disastrous environmental and social history, he compellingly shows a city deliberately put in harm's way by land developers, builders, and politicians, even as the incalculable toll of inevitable future catas-trophe continues to accumulate.
Counterpointing L.A.'s central role in America's fantasy life--the city has been destroyed no less than 138 times in novels and films since 1909--with its wanton denial of its own real history, Davis creates a revelatory kaleidoscope of American fact, imagery, and sensibility. Drawing upon a vast array of sources, Ecology of Fear meticulously captures the nation's violent malaise and desperate social unease at the millennial end of "the American century." With savagely entertaining wit and compassionate rage, this book conducts a devastating reconnaissance of our all-too-likely urban future.
"Dizzying. . . . In Mr. Davis's account, the world ends in fire, and the next time is now."--The New York Times
- Print length496 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherVintage
- Publication dateSeptember 7, 1999
- Dimensions5.5 x 1.25 x 8.25 inches
- ISBN-100375706070
- ISBN-13978-0375706073
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Earthquakes. Wildfires. Floods. Drought. Tornadoes. Snakes in the sea, mountain lions, and a plague of bees. In this controversial tour de force of scholarship, unsparing vision, and inspired writing, Mike Davis, the author of City of Quartz, revisits Los Angeles as a Book of the Apocalypse theme park. By brilliantly juxtaposing L.A.'s fragile natural ecology with its disastrous environmental and social history, he compellingly shows a city deliberately put in harm's way by land developers, builders, and politicians, even as the incalculable toll of inevitable future catas-trophe continues to accumulate.
Counterpointing L.A.'s central role in America's fantasy life--the city has been destroyed no less than 138 times in novels and films since 1909--with its wanton denial of its own real history, Davis creates a revelatory kaleidoscope of American fact, imagery, and sensibility. Drawing upon a vast array of sources, Ecology of Fear meticulously captures the nation's violent malaise and desperate social unease at the millennial end of "the American century." With savagely entertaining wit and compassionate rage, this book conducts a devastating reconnaissance of our all-too-likely urban future.
"Dizzying. . . . In Mr. Davis's account, the world ends in fire, and the next time is now."--The New York Times
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Vintage; 1st edition (September 7, 1999)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 496 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0375706070
- ISBN-13 : 978-0375706073
- Item Weight : 1 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 1.25 x 8.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #555,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #597 in Sociology of Urban Areas
- #980 in Ecology (Books)
- #9,388 in U.S. State & Local History
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Mike Davis is the author of several books including City of Quartz, Ecology of Fear, Late Victorian Holocausts, Planet of Slums, and Magical Urbanism. He was recently awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. He lives in Papa'aloa, Hawaii.
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Some readers might find the book overwritten. The literary quality is high and of some pretension, but a simple journalistic style would have made it easier to digest. I tended to gloss over the extensive scientific explanations of extreme weather in California and the like, but science-oriented readers starved for literary writing (which, admittedly, seems like a small demographic) might like these portions. Davis's overwriting is much more tolerable than that of any other academic I'm familiar with.







