false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165645320m/7852.jpg 7852 4 The 1990s have not been kind to Los Angeles. As Mike Davis writes, "The destructive February 1992, January 1993, and January 1995 floods ($500 million in damage) were mere brackets around the April 1992 insurrection ($1 billion), the October-November 1993 firestorms ($1 billion) and the January 1994 earthquake ($42 billion)." But, he argues, the increasing fear about nature's reign of terror in Southern California reflected in Hollywood's preoccupation with apocalypse--L.A. has been destroyed on screen by everything from lava (<I>Volcano</I>) to nukes (<I>Miracle Mile</I>) to alien death rays (<I>Independence Day</I>)--is in reality a strong case of denial. Again, Davis himself says it best: "For generations, market-driven urbanization has transgressed environmental common sense. Historic wildfire corridors have been turned into view-lot suburbs, wetland liquefaction zones into marinas, and floodplains into industrial districts and housing tracts. Monolithic public works have been substituted for regional planning and a responsible land ethic. As a result, Southern California has reaped flood, fire, and earthquake tragedies that were as avoidable, as unnatural, as the beating of Rodney King and the ensuing explosion in the streets."<p> As in <I>City of Quartz</I>, his earlier book about Los Angeles, Davis reveals the deeper ideological narratives behind historical events. Whether he's explaining the motivations behind the persistent refusal of civic leaders to admit that a tornado alley runs down the middle of the region, from Long Beach to Pasadena, or discussing, as one chapter refers to it, "the case for letting Malibu burn," he outlines his arguments with a fascinating amount of detail and a subtle sense of irony. There are wonderful chapters here, such as "Maneaters of the Sierra Madre," a zoology of the wild beasts Angelenos fear, including mountain lions that descend from the hills to eat joggers and small children, swarms of Africanized killer bees making their way across the deserts, and El Chupacabra, the "goat-sucking vampire" that joined L.A.'s roster of faddish icons in 1996.<p> Although this book is specifically about Los Angeles, its lessons about the relationship between urban developments and natural ecosystems and about the dangerous influence of class politics on environmental safety policy are applicable to any city. Anyone with a serious interest in natural history or urban policy should make a point of reading this book. <I>--Ron Hogan</I> 386847 1998 Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster total:337|5:95|4:142|3:88|2:12|1:0| 337 1331 498 41 3 3 false false Sun Sep 16 18:08:20 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 08 11:17:02 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Nov 07 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Sep 29 20:04:35 -0700 2009 Mon Nov 09 16:59:49 -0800 2009
I was fascinated. I think I ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Oct 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 26 10:45:49 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 11 13:57:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Sep 25 14:12:39 -0700 2007 Wed Nov 28 19:36:45 -0800 2007 5 0 false false Tue Jun 17 04:19:02 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 17 04:23:32 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Fri Aug 22 18:14:40 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 22 18:14:40 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu Apr 23 19:01:15 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 27 21:45:15 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Sep 14 12:22:22 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 14 12:22:22 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Fri Oct 16 10:48:26 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 16 10:48:46 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Mar 19 07:10:50 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 19 07:14:01 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Wed Jan 07 10:14:46 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 07 10:14:46 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Fri Dec 08 22:22:06 -0800 2006 Fri Dec 08 22:22:37 -0800 2006 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Feb 25 14:42:02 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 14:43:34 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Dec 20 20:03:16 -0800 2007 Sun Apr 20 15:28:12 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Sun Jan 20 16:18:54 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 20 16:20:24 -0800 2008
Again, Davis has his detractors, and this book does have a "sky is falling" kind of feel. But it made me view LA through a ...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Feb 16 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 16 21:15:36 -0800 2007 Mon Feb 18 14:01:05 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Wed Sep 05 21:46:39 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 05 22:08:55 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Mon Oct 22 11:34:11 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 22 11:39:24 -0700 2007 What happened to buidling codes? The annals of LA's natural disasters.]]> 3 0 false false Wed Feb 20 23:59:03 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 21 00:00:35 -0800 2008
The chapter on real estate development in the Santa Clara valley and the chapter on fire both kick ass.]]> 4 0 false false Tue Oct 23 23:48:39 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 23 23:50:29 -0700 2007
OH AND:

so, people say, "why live in new orleans if you're just going to be wiped out?"

The biblical proportions know no bounds, america. Where would YOU live?]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=7852