City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles
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- Create Date：2022-10-29 05:51:54
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Mike Davis
- ISBN：1786635895
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Summary
The hidden story of L。A。 Mike Davis shows us where the city's money comes from and who controls it while also exposing the brutal ongoing struggle between L。A。's haves and have-nots。
Reviews
Alexandra
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I started reading City of Quartz sporadically about a month ago， a month marking 5 years of having lived in LA。 I had planned to read an LA authors novella every couple of chapters to break up the monotony of policy and development with a bit of the pop culture I am typically inclined to。 It wasn't necessary。 I was taken by the book completely and LA looked better to me for it。 Mike Davis changed the way I see the city and opened up a whole version of it that had been so seamlessly fused into th I started reading City of Quartz sporadically about a month ago， a month marking 5 years of having lived in LA。 I had planned to read an LA authors novella every couple of chapters to break up the monotony of policy and development with a bit of the pop culture I am typically inclined to。 It wasn't necessary。 I was taken by the book completely and LA looked better to me for it。 Mike Davis changed the way I see the city and opened up a whole version of it that had been so seamlessly fused into the landscape that it had long gone unnoticed。 I read the last chapter yesterday and woke up this morning to the news of his passing。 Thanks for everything Mike。 And just like Randy Newman said; looks like another perfect day。 I love LA。 。。。more
Andres Ocon
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Mike Davis does a great job of weaving history with political and social commentary that gives a people’s perspective of Los Angeles。 It’s as relevant today as it was 30 years ago。 Sadly nothing has changed。 With all the controversy and resignations happening in City Hall as we speak， this serves as a blueprint for what led to the corruption and power grabs we’ve allowed for so long。 “Los Angeles， it should be understood， is not a mere city。 On the contrary， it is， and has been since 1888， a com Mike Davis does a great job of weaving history with political and social commentary that gives a people’s perspective of Los Angeles。 It’s as relevant today as it was 30 years ago。 Sadly nothing has changed。 With all the controversy and resignations happening in City Hall as we speak， this serves as a blueprint for what led to the corruption and power grabs we’ve allowed for so long。 “Los Angeles， it should be understood， is not a mere city。 On the contrary， it is， and has been since 1888， a commodity; something to be advertised and sold to the people of the United States like automobiles， cigarettes and mouth wash。” Morrow Mayo 。。。more
Alex
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Mike Davis has an enjoyable and colorful writing style。 Real estate battles in LA during the 1980s aren't super interesting to me at this point。 Mike Davis has an enjoyable and colorful writing style。 Real estate battles in LA during the 1980s aren't super interesting to me at this point。 。。。more
Andrew Morin
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Broadly interesting to me。 Davis sketches several interesting portraits of Los Angeles responding to influxes of capital， people， and ideas throughout its history and evolving in response。 This is most interesting when he highlights divisions and coalitions--Westsider vs。 Downtown， Valley homeowners vs。 developers。 At times hard to penetrate， with quick successions of names and concepts that are only briefly against。 The relentless pessimism also gets tiring at times， with the continual dynamism Broadly interesting to me。 Davis sketches several interesting portraits of Los Angeles responding to influxes of capital， people， and ideas throughout its history and evolving in response。 This is most interesting when he highlights divisions and coalitions--Westsider vs。 Downtown， Valley homeowners vs。 developers。 At times hard to penetrate， with quick successions of names and concepts that are only briefly against。 The relentless pessimism also gets tiring at times， with the continual dynamism of the city in question seemingly leading straight downhill from Davis' 1990 perspective。 The endless menace of Japanese capital and projections for permanent dominance of Anglo political power over minority groups felt a little played out by the end of the book。 Additionally， it did feel a little disjointed。 The thematic divisions of the chapters were mostly comprehensible， though the chronological narrative of each suffered at times。 I also do not fully understand the decision to move 50 miles east for the last， long chapter on the farms and steel mill of Fontana。 While interesting， it seemed pretty distant from the broader picture painted of Los Angeles。 Still， pretty interesting overall。 Also， really would have appreciated more maps。 。。。more
Henry Begler
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definitely worth the hype and so well researched - imagine doing this before the internet！！ - with some arresting scenes and pieces of writing。 that said as much as i appreciate his detailed documenting of backroom land deals， state senate bills， homeowners associations， leveraged buyouts and the like， it could be a little much for a medium-smart person such as myself to follow and i preferred the most straightforward chapters on police， architecture etc， with my favorite being the culture crit definitely worth the hype and so well researched - imagine doing this before the internet！！ - with some arresting scenes and pieces of writing。 that said as much as i appreciate his detailed documenting of backroom land deals， state senate bills， homeowners associations， leveraged buyouts and the like， it could be a little much for a medium-smart person such as myself to follow and i preferred the most straightforward chapters on police， architecture etc， with my favorite being the culture crit in the first chapter。 mike davis would probably sneer at me for that。 but definitely an important text。 。。。more
Lindsay
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https://www。latimes。com/lifestyle/ima。。。 https://www。latimes。com/lifestyle/ima。。。 。。。more
Rob Stone
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A monster of a book。 Mike Davis is without question one of the best to ever do it。 You don't have to be an Angelino to enjoy this one， but it does give a special charm to an otherwise grim tale of political corruption， development， finance， and the birth of a "modern" city。 A monster of a book。 Mike Davis is without question one of the best to ever do it。 You don't have to be an Angelino to enjoy this one， but it does give a special charm to an otherwise grim tale of political corruption， development， finance， and the birth of a "modern" city。 。。。more
Paul Narvaez
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What I loved about this polemic is that it sent me in so many directions for other readings and exploring previous demythologizers。 This book will be Mike Davis’s legacy。I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to read this。
axe 👒
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！！！
How To ADU
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Just read Fortress L。A。， an essay by Mike Davis in City of Quartz （recommended by https://www。tiktok。com/t/ZTd3LWg3g/？k=1 ）。 These are my thoughtsIt's largely about how hostile the architecture in Los Angeles has become， how it demonstrates a fear of public space， and a desire to put boundaries between safe， "respectable" private space。It identifies a lot of features that are designed to discourage people from using public space。 It's written in 1990 so a lot of the features that seemed novel th Just read Fortress L。A。， an essay by Mike Davis in City of Quartz （recommended by https://www。tiktok。com/t/ZTd3LWg3g/？k=1 ）。 These are my thoughtsIt's largely about how hostile the architecture in Los Angeles has become， how it demonstrates a fear of public space， and a desire to put boundaries between safe， "respectable" private space。It identifies a lot of features that are designed to discourage people from using public space。 It's written in 1990 so a lot of the features that seemed novel then are ubiquitous now （like bus benches that you can't sleep on）And the extreme， somewhat poetic prose that constantly references popular culture of the 80s makes it sound a bit alarmist/extreme。 But who can blame him - he didn't know I'd be reading this in 2022。 And that comparing Frank Gehry to Dirty Harry would be hilarious。As he wheels through descriptions of modern architecture， the birth of today's Skid Row， and weird city planning decisions。。。 I have to say I'm entertained and he's super-prescient。 Here we are 30 years later and a lot of the observations have been very accurate。It wraps up with how much the police and law enforcement have been given ownership over public space and city planning。 Again， weird city planning stories that speak volumes about our priorities in the 90s。The best way to convey exactly what reading this is like is probably just to share the subheadings from the essay uninterrupted:"The Destruction of Public Space""The Forbidden City" "Sadistic Street Environments""Frank Gehry as Dirty Harry""The Panopticon Mall""From Rentacop to Robocop""The LAPD as Space Police""The Carceral City""The Fear of Crowds"The essay preceding Fortress LA seems to be 60+ pages on NIMBYism in Los Angeles so I'm going to have to read that next。 。。。more
Julien
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In the author’s words， “City of Quartz … is the biography of a conjuncture: one of those moments， ripe with paradox and non-linearity， when previously separate currents of history suddenly converge with profoundly unpredictable results。 [It is] … about the contradictory impact of economic globalization upon different segments of Los Angeles society。”I moved to Los Angeles two years ago， weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent George Floyd protests shattered the currents of city life an In the author’s words， “City of Quartz … is the biography of a conjuncture: one of those moments， ripe with paradox and non-linearity， when previously separate currents of history suddenly converge with profoundly unpredictable results。 [It is] … about the contradictory impact of economic globalization upon different segments of Los Angeles society。”I moved to Los Angeles two years ago， weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent George Floyd protests shattered the currents of city life and indelibly altered society。 Put in perspective the events of 2020 become less extraordinary— one more meteoric change to a city （LA） and a region （Metro LA/SoCal） tacked to the end of a long list。 This is what Mike Davis dissects and catalogs in City of Quartz: the inflection points， as he sees them， in LA’s growth and development over the past 150 years。 Broken down by chapter， Davis writes densely and at length on:1。 People— who immigrated to LA and why， it’s visitors and their thoughts， the growth of its society and downstream effects on the city。2。 Power— the structures and lines of power that built LA， both physically （in the case of developers， land speculators， and associated industry like the railroad companies） and politically。 These two groups tended to be single individuals or collectives of unfettered capitalists directing politics。3。 Real estate， suburbanism， and “affluent homeowners … engaged in the defense of home values and neighborhood exclusivity。” NIMBYism exhaustively analyzed。4。 LA’s architectural reflection of the 1960s-80s sociopolitical repression。 “The dire predictions of Richard Nixon's 1969 National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence have been tragically fulfilled: we live in 'fortress cities' brutally divided between 'fortified cells' of affluent society and 'places of terror' where the police battle the criminalized poor。”5。 Police， policing， and the political-law enforcement axis in LA。 If you already know the LAPD’s history， its organized internal gangs and utterly fucked up criminalization of the poor and non-whites， there is still much specific history here to anger and educate you。 If you don’t know anything about it yet， buckle up。6。 Religion。 Particularly the history of the Catholic Church in LA; how it has reacted， and failed to react， in the face of rapidly changing demographics due to immigration。7。 The history of Fontana as a microcosm。 “If violent instability in local landscape and culture is taken to be constitutive of Southern California's peculiar social ontology， then Fontana epitomizes the region。 It is an imagined community， twice invented and promoted， then turned inside-out to become once again a visionary green field。 Its repeated restructurings have traumatically registered the shifting interaction of regional and international， manufacturing and real-estate， capitalism。 Yet despite the claims of some theorists of the 'hyperreal 'or the 'depthless present' - the past is not completely erasable， even in Southern California。 … To this extent the Fontana story provides a parable: it is about the fate of those suburbanized California working classes who cling to their tarnished dreams at the far edge of the L。A。 galaxy。”City of Quartz was written in 1990 and the edition I read contains a 2006 preface from Davis。 He points out why he continues to be so pessimistic— “Taking 1990 as a baseline， consider some of the most important structural trends and social changes of the generation that followed the original ‘conjuncture。’” 1。 Regional （Im）mobility: the complete failure to develop sustainable public transport。2。 Branchville: capital flight and the echoes of the “L。A。 2000” scheme to become the new command center of the California and Pacific Rim economies which collapsed in the 1990s recession。 Even more poignant as Silicon Valley has exploded in the age of smartphones and social media。3。 Manufacturing Decline: in 2006 starkly highlighted by the flight of jobs and industry to China。 This has only accelerated。4。 The New Inequality: the permanent healthcare， education， and income crisis among the city’s vulnerable， “emblematic of the larger deficit of investment in a humane social safety net。”5。 Terminal Suburbs: regional re-segregation in California and massive white flight （LA County losing 20% of its white population in the 90s）， “part of a larger sorting-out process by which white， religiously-conservative ‘red America’ is taking its distance from heavily immigrant and liberal ‘blue America。’”6。 Spurning the Peacemakers: the complete failure to build on inter-gang solidarity in the wake of the Rodney King riots， and in fact the deliberate spurning and undermining of the truce。7。 City of Organizers: here is Davis’ note of cautious optimism on the future of the labor movement， which I tend to think was misguided given the subsequent 15 years leading to today。 He was however spot on about politics: “I find nothing praiseworthy in current calls for more 'centrism' or 'pragmatism': euphemisms for the continual process of incremental adjustment to the rightward drift of the Democratic Party。 In contrast， conservative Christian groups have built impressive political bases in local suburban politics largely through unyielding， programmatic tenacity。 Odd to say， but many conservatives seem to have a better grasp of Gramsci than many on the Left。 Above all， they understand the principle that a hegemonic politics must represent a consistent continuum of values: it must embody a morally coherent way of life。”“We live in a rich society with poor children， and that should be intolerable。” 。。。more
Mickey Dubs
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Davis analyses the minutae of Los Angeles city politics and its interactions with various interest groups from homeowners associations， the LAPD， architects， corporate raiders of old Fordist industries， powerful family dynasties， environmentalists， and the Catholic Church that moulded LA into an anti-poor urban hellscape。 Bit like the Romford Recorder。
Marley
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Simply desperate for an update re: the 32 years between now and the original publication
Sam Owen
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It’s crazy that people know so much about a thing
Michael
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Completely fascinating， but the unexpected final chapter on Fontana may have been the most interesting。
William Yip
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Wired For War inspired me to read this book。 Sometimes the book was a slog as the author described countless minutiae about city politics and social movements， especially the first chapter which dealt with the different pro and anti-Los Angeles art， literature， and film movements。 He somewhat frequently used biased language。 That said， he provided a good account of the history of Los Angeles and the different eras in Los Angeles society such as the heavy industry， real estate， slow and globaliza Wired For War inspired me to read this book。 Sometimes the book was a slog as the author described countless minutiae about city politics and social movements， especially the first chapter which dealt with the different pro and anti-Los Angeles art， literature， and film movements。 He somewhat frequently used biased language。 That said， he provided a good account of the history of Los Angeles and the different eras in Los Angeles society such as the heavy industry， real estate， slow and globalization eras as well as the different social groups such as slow growth， NIMBY， and the Latino Catholics。 The pettiness and classism were incredible to read about with owners of $400k homes looking down on owners of $200k homes and people moving to the suburbs to lessen one's taxes to welfare and to inner cities。The racism was also astounding with fierce white resistance to minorities moving into white neighborhoods， the harassment and murder of blacks by the KKK， and the support for the LAPD's tough stance and its operations such as the HAMMER。 Sadly， the long term effects are negative on both minorities and Los Angeles society as a whole。 With no job opportunities， people turn to selling drugs。 With no support from the government or society as a whole， people turn to gangs for a support network and Skid Row has a high murder rate。 The author predicted the situation would violently explode; riots did happen after the police savagely beat Rodney King。 。。。more
Beth
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Interesting subjects， pretty bad writing， especially for over the long haul of 400+ pages。
Vanessa Christina Hernandez
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5 Stars for the middle chapters ex。 Power Lines， Fortress LA， etc
Gaelen Murray
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The history of Fontana， CA might as well be the history of any city in America in the 20th century。 It's crazy how prescient this book was for having been published in 1990。 Really detailed urban history of Los Angeles through some interesting perspectives。 Loved learning about Jack Parsons briefly as well lol The history of Fontana， CA might as well be the history of any city in America in the 20th century。 It's crazy how prescient this book was for having been published in 1990。 Really detailed urban history of Los Angeles through some interesting perspectives。 Loved learning about Jack Parsons briefly as well lol 。。。more
Grant
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Haiku Review:L。A。 historyfailed utopias aboundmaybe I should move。
Lorik
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It can be read as a novel。 So good to read it and it made me love and hate Los Angeles。 Both fascinating and frightening， you'll get to know more about L。A。 than ever and you'll have different approach and vision in everything that surrounds you when walking and driving in your city。 It can be read as a novel。 So good to read it and it made me love and hate Los Angeles。 Both fascinating and frightening， you'll get to know more about L。A。 than ever and you'll have different approach and vision in everything that surrounds you when walking and driving in your city。 。。。more
Chris Molnar
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Grumpy， kaleidoscopic and exhaustive。Not quite far-seeing， and in the focus on institutions wastes a chapter on the Catholic Church， but always on the right side of things， fascinating and to my knowledge irreplacable - an LA history and systems book with no pop culture。
Evan Pincus
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Davis totally lacks a knack for structure， so this starts and ends in ways that don’t feel like a start or an end （after the great prologue you’re dunked into。。。 70-year-old union disputes that require a mountain of context before the talk of LA’s grand design even comes in）， but in between you’ll find some of the best writing on LA out there。 Would love to read a 30-years-later edition - how much， how little has changed。
Stephen Michaels
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Skimmed the last two chapters， but the rest is really engaging。
Brenden Gallagher
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There are many ways to explain a city and Mike Davis' 1990 book "City of Quartz" might be one of the most effective attempts of all time。 "City of Quartz" is a book about Los Angeles。 It is part history， part sociological analysis， and part power map。 It is the power mapping that is probably most compelling in the book， as Davis clearly breaks down how power evolved in Los Angeles and how it is currently distributed。Davis breaks the book down into sprawling chapters that explain how things work There are many ways to explain a city and Mike Davis' 1990 book "City of Quartz" might be one of the most effective attempts of all time。 "City of Quartz" is a book about Los Angeles。 It is part history， part sociological analysis， and part power map。 It is the power mapping that is probably most compelling in the book， as Davis clearly breaks down how power evolved in Los Angeles and how it is currently distributed。Davis breaks the book down into sprawling chapters that explain how things work in LA， starting with the depiction of the city in art and how the city in turn shapes its artists。 From there， he breaks down local government， real estate interests， religious groups， industrial sectors， activism， unionism and various other major power centers in the city。 All the while， Davis manages to find numerous compelling individuals and groups to pull out and spotlight， repeatedly showing us how the micro informs the macro and vice versa。It is no wonder that "City of Quartz" is a beloved text， especially among the LA Left， thirty years after its publication。 Rarely have a seen such a thorough and compelling analysis of how power is gained and how power works。 This book should be required reading for anyone attempting to do politics on any level in Southern California and it would probably be worth reading for anybody thinking about politics anywhere in the country。 。。。more
Spencer Slovic
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Pros: I understand Los Angeles and how it got to be this way 1000x better nowCons: I understand Los Angeles and how it got to be this way 1000x better now
Greymalkin
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The first chapter of this book was tough to read。 I don't know that I've ever felt so illiterate in my life。 I didn't get most of the references and the author has a terrible habit of using names as adjectives: e。g。 "Keysian" this or "Rutherfordian" that。 If you don't know what he's referring to， the word adds nothing and I lose so much context。 Is the thing funny？ Sad？ Ironic？ Weird？ I have no idea。There is a ton of information in the book which is very useful， but makes it also quite slow to r The first chapter of this book was tough to read。 I don't know that I've ever felt so illiterate in my life。 I didn't get most of the references and the author has a terrible habit of using names as adjectives: e。g。 "Keysian" this or "Rutherfordian" that。 If you don't know what he's referring to， the word adds nothing and I lose so much context。 Is the thing funny？ Sad？ Ironic？ Weird？ I have no idea。There is a ton of information in the book which is very useful， but makes it also quite slow to read as I tried to absorbed so much info and try to put it in context。 It doesn't help that the book was published about 30 years ago， so much of the info is outdated and I'd love to know more about how some of his guesses and predictions turned out。 。。。more
Mesut Bostancı
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the chapter on NIMBYism is like the 18th Brumaire of housing politics。 I will be quoting it ad nauseam in every housing conversation from now on。 Lakewoodism， for example， is the defining political dynamic of Sun-Belt cities， and I will just use the term and expect everyone knows what I'm talking about。 The Howard Jarvis tax revolt should be as much of a pillar of 20th century periodization as the Vietnam war。 the chapter on NIMBYism is like the 18th Brumaire of housing politics。 I will be quoting it ad nauseam in every housing conversation from now on。 Lakewoodism， for example， is the defining political dynamic of Sun-Belt cities， and I will just use the term and expect everyone knows what I'm talking about。 The Howard Jarvis tax revolt should be as much of a pillar of 20th century periodization as the Vietnam war。 。。。more
Camille
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Un travail rare， qui combine à la fois sociologie urbaine et géographie， histoire et histoire des idées。 Mike Davis revient sur l'histoire de la cité des Anges depuis la fin du XIXème siècle， une histoire faite de spéculateurs fonciers， de racisme， et d'urbanisation à outrance。 Los Angeles， de ville pour ainsi dire sans grand intérêt devient une métropole tentaculaire， qui matérialise la lutte des classes （je veux dire par là via l'architecture et le mobilier urbain， notamment le mobilier dit "a Un travail rare， qui combine à la fois sociologie urbaine et géographie， histoire et histoire des idées。 Mike Davis revient sur l'histoire de la cité des Anges depuis la fin du XIXème siècle， une histoire faite de spéculateurs fonciers， de racisme， et d'urbanisation à outrance。 Los Angeles， de ville pour ainsi dire sans grand intérêt devient une métropole tentaculaire， qui matérialise la lutte des classes （je veux dire par là via l'architecture et le mobilier urbain， notamment le mobilier dit "anti SDF"）。 Le chapitre qui m'a le plus marqué est consacré à la militarisation de la police de Los Angeles notamment suite aux "émeutes" （Davis， à l'image des Black Panthers préfère le terme de rébellion） de Watts。Pour Davis Los Angeles est le prototype de la ville du futur， un futur qui n'a rien de particulièrement joyeux， puisqu'il est caractérisé par les pauvres （c'est à dire les latinos et les Noirs） parqués dans des ghettos， soumis au harcèlement policier constant， et par les plus aisés （notons que la classe moyenne tendait à l'époque de l'écriture du livre， à disparaître） qui vivent dans des véritables forteresses urbaines， avec milice privé et des murs de "protection" à la clé。 。。。more
Megan Anderson
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