RIP Mike Davis

[version]

even when it is actually burning, hollywood looks cinematic

Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster

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 catastrophe 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.

 

[mixed_biscuits]

Climate change makes people angry and more likely to commit arson. Shame on those gas-guzzling Californians.

 

[mixed_biscuits]

They're right. People are much more comfortable not to be saved by someone of the same race than being saved by someone who will make them feel awkward.

 

[version]

Almost done with Buda's Wagon, the one he did on the car bomb. Slim thing with a similar approach to Planet of Slums and just as grim, if not moreso. There's a bit of a macho current where he seems to throw in gory details for the sake of morbid curiosity and the "Look how mad this is... " factor, but it does hammer the point home. Some genuinely shocking details, body parts ending up several floors up, buildings being lifted off the ground.

 

[dilbert1]

He was so incisive and focused, unlike many of the more famous aging leftist types (Bill Ayers, Angela Davis, etc) I saw around the same time, who were often quite disappointing.

I’ll be seeing Bill Ayers speak on Saturday in Chicago on a panel entitled “Why does Society have Politics?” at this year’s Platypus international convention

 

[dilbert1]

Will be sure to share my experiences and reactions, planning on taking notes. The theme of the convention is “Is there a Left in the 21st century?” Guru cult leader Chris Cutrone will also be presenting

 

[luka]

Sounds great