Rakuten Kobo

City of Quartz

Excavating the Future in Los Angeles

by Mike Davis ...

Series series Essential Mike Davis
This new edition of the visionary social history of Los Angeles is “as central to the L.A. canon as anything that . . . Joan Didion wrote in the seventies” (New Yorker).No metropolis has been more loved or more hated. To its official boosters, “Los Angeles brings it all together.” To detractors, L.A. is a sunlit mortuary where “you can rot without feeling it.” To Mike Davis, the author of this ... Read more

$9.99 USD

This new edition of the visionary social history of Los Angeles is “as central to the L.A. canon as anything that . . . Joan Didion wrote in the seventies” (New Yorker).No metropolis has been more loved or more hated. To its official boosters, “Los Angeles brings it all together.” To detractors, L.A. is a sunlit mortuary where “you can rot without feeling it.” To Mike Davis, the author of this
... Read more
Magical Urbanism

Latinos Reinvent the US City

by Mike Davis ...

Winner of the 2001 Carey McWilliams AwardIs the capital of Latin America a small island at the mouth of the Hudson River? Will California soon hold the balance of power in Mexican national politics? Will Latinos reinvigorate the US labor movement?These are some of the provocative questions that Mike Davis explores in this fascinating account of the Latinization of the US urban landscape. As he ... Read more

$9.99 USD

Winner of the 2001 Carey McWilliams AwardIs the capital of Latin America a small island at the mouth of the Hudson River? Will California soon hold the balance of power in Mexican national politics? Will Latinos reinvigorate the US labor movement?These are some of the provocative questions that Mike Davis explores in this fascinating account of the Latinization of the US urban landscape. As he
... Read more
Ecology of Fear

Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster

by Mike Davis ...

Series series Essential Mike Davis
A witty and engrossing look at Los Angeles' urban ecology and the city's place in America's cultural fantasiesEarthquakes. 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 ... Read more

$9.99 USD

A witty and engrossing look at Los Angeles' urban ecology and the city's place in America's cultural fantasiesEarthquakes. 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
... Read more
Dead Cities

And Other Tales

by Mike Davis ...

For the late great Mike Davis, the ravaging of the climate by capital—and his prescient analysis of its consequences for those of us left to deal with the resulting crises—was always a central part of his urban geography.In these wide ranging, incisive, and hauntingly relevant essays, Davis asks us to consider what we would find if we put a microscope to the ruins of Metropolis, and provides a ... Read more

$8.99 USD

For the late great Mike Davis, the ravaging of the climate by capital—and his prescient analysis of its consequences for those of us left to deal with the resulting crises—was always a central part of his urban geography.In these wide ranging, incisive, and hauntingly relevant essays, Davis asks us to consider what we would find if we put a microscope to the ruins of Metropolis, and provides a
... Read more
Yuppies

The Bankers, Lawyers, Joggers, and Gourmands Who Conquered New York

by Dylan Gottlieb ...

How the rise of Wall Street in the 1980s lured a generation of young upstarts to New York, unleashing a political and cultural transformation whose national repercussions are still felt today.Yuppies may have been a classic 1980s stereotype, but they were also a very real demographic: a wave of hundreds of thousands of highly educated young professionals that washed over New York during that ... Read more

$23.99 USD

How the rise of Wall Street in the 1980s lured a generation of young upstarts to New York, unleashing a political and cultural transformation whose national repercussions are still felt today.Yuppies may have been a classic 1980s stereotype, but they were also a very real demographic: a wave of hundreds of thousands of highly educated young professionals that washed over New York during that
... Read more
There Is No Place for Us

Working and Homeless in America (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

by Brian Goldstone ...

**WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES AND THE ATLANTIC’S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR • Through the “revelatory and gut-wrenching” (Associated Press) stories of five Atlanta families, this landmark work of journalism exposes a new and troubling trend—the dramatic rise of the working homeless in cities across America.“An ... Read more

$12.99 USD

**WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES AND THE ATLANTIC’S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR • Through the “revelatory and gut-wrenching” (Associated Press) stories of five Atlanta families, this landmark work of journalism exposes a new and troubling trend—the dramatic rise of the working homeless in cities across America.“An
... Read more
Trash!

A Garbageman's Story

by Simon Pare-Poupart ...

Translated by Pablo Strauss ...

**“Raffish and spirited . . . a nonconformist cri de coeur . . . Usually, comparisons to Bourdain are fatuous. This time it’s accurate . . . It’s been a long time since I’ve read so good and rowdy a memoir about blue-collar work.” — Dwight Garner, The New York TimesA Montreal garbageman's sharp and funny memoir/exposé, in which he attempts to convince people to "stop imagining that your garbage ... Read more

$10.99 USD

**“Raffish and spirited . . . a nonconformist cri de coeur . . . Usually, comparisons to Bourdain are fatuous. This time it’s accurate . . . It’s been a long time since I’ve read so good and rowdy a memoir about blue-collar work.” — Dwight Garner, The New York TimesA Montreal garbageman's sharp and funny memoir/exposé, in which he attempts to convince people to "stop imagining that your garbage
... Read more
Four Lost Cities

A Secret History of the Urban Age

by Annalee Newitz ...

**Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR and Science FridayA quest to explore some of the most spectacular ancient cities in human history—and figure out why people abandoned them.**In Four Lost Cities, acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes readers on an entertaining and mind-bending adventure into the deep history of urban life. Investigating across the centuries and around the world, ... Read more

$12.99 USD

**Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR and Science FridayA quest to explore some of the most spectacular ancient cities in human history—and figure out why people abandoned them.**In Four Lost Cities, acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes readers on an entertaining and mind-bending adventure into the deep history of urban life. Investigating across the centuries and around the world,
... Read more
City Planning

A Very Short Introduction

by Carl Abbott ...

Series series Very Short Introductions
City planning is a practice and a profession. It is also a set of goals and--sometimes utopian--aspirations. Formal thought about the shaping of cities as physical spaces and social environments calls on the same range of disciplines and approaches that we use for understanding cities themselves, from art and literature through the social and natural sciences. Surrounding the core profession of ... Read more

Was $8.99 USD Now $7.99 USD

City planning is a practice and a profession. It is also a set of goals and--sometimes utopian--aspirations. Formal thought about the shaping of cities as physical spaces and social environments calls on the same range of disciplines and approaches that we use for understanding cities themselves, from art and literature through the social and natural sciences. Surrounding the core profession of
... Read more
When Crack Was King

A People's History of a Misunderstood Era

by Donovan X. Ramsey ...

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • A “vivid and frank” (NPR) account of the crack cocaine era and a community’s ultimate resilience, told through a cast of characters whose lives illuminate the dramatic rise and fall of the epidemic“A master class in disrupting a stubborn narrative, a monumental feat for the fraught subject of addiction in Black communities.”—The Washington Post“A poignant ... Read more

Was $13.99 USD Now $9.99 USD

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • A “vivid and frank” (NPR) account of the crack cocaine era and a community’s ultimate resilience, told through a cast of characters whose lives illuminate the dramatic rise and fall of the epidemic“A master class in disrupting a stubborn narrative, a monumental feat for the fraught subject of addiction in Black communities.”—The Washington Post“A poignant
... Read more
The Devil in the White City

A Saga of Magic and Murder at the Fair that Changed America

by Erik Larson ...

**#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Splendid and the Vile comes the true tale of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the cunning serial killer who used the magic and majesty of the fair to lure his victims to their death.“As absorbing a piece of popular history as one will ever hope to find.” —San Francisco ChronicleA ... Read more

$12.99 USD

**#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Splendid and the Vile comes the true tale of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the cunning serial killer who used the magic and majesty of the fair to lure his victims to their death.“As absorbing a piece of popular history as one will ever hope to find.” —San Francisco ChronicleA
... Read more
Fruteros

Street Vending, Illegality, and Ethnic Community in Los Angeles

by Rocío Rosales ...

This book examines the social worlds of young Latino street vendors as they navigate the complexities of local and federal laws prohibiting both their presence and their work on street corners. Known as fruteros, they sell fruit salads out of pushcarts throughout Los Angeles and are part of the urban landscape.Drawing on six years of fieldwork, Rocío Rosales offers a compelling portrait of their ... Read more

$28.99 USD

This book examines the social worlds of young Latino street vendors as they navigate the complexities of local and federal laws prohibiting both their presence and their work on street corners. Known as fruteros, they sell fruit salads out of pushcarts throughout Los Angeles and are part of the urban landscape.Drawing on six years of fieldwork, Rocío Rosales offers a compelling portrait of their
... Read more
Times Square Red, Times Square Blue 20th Anniversary Edition

by Samuel R. Delany ...

Series Book 47 - Sexual Cultures
Twentieth anniversary edition of a landmark book that cataloged a vibrant but disappearing neighborhood in New York CityIn the two decades that preceded the original publication of Times Square Red, Times Square Blue, Forty-second Street, then the most infamous street in America, was being remade into a sanitized tourist haven. In the forced disappearance of porn theaters, peep shows, and street ... Read more

Was $23.99 USD Now $18.99 USD

Twentieth anniversary edition of a landmark book that cataloged a vibrant but disappearing neighborhood in New York CityIn the two decades that preceded the original publication of Times Square Red, Times Square Blue, Forty-second Street, then the most infamous street in America, was being remade into a sanitized tourist haven. In the forced disappearance of porn theaters, peep shows, and street
... Read more
A Great and Monstrous Thing

London in the Eighteenth Century

by Jerry White ...

This "magisterial history of London" explores the rapidly changing culture and commerce of the eighteenth century in "a book that hums with vitality" ( Times Literary Supplement, UK).London in the eighteenth century was a new city, risen from the ashes of the Great Fire of 1666. The century that followed was an era of vigorous expansion and rapid change as waves of people were drawn to its wealth, ... Read more

$12.99 USD or Free with Kobo Plus

This "magisterial history of London" explores the rapidly changing culture and commerce of the eighteenth century in "a book that hums with vitality" ( Times Literary Supplement, UK).London in the eighteenth century was a new city, risen from the ashes of the Great Fire of 1666. The century that followed was an era of vigorous expansion and rapid change as waves of people were drawn to its wealth,
... Read more
Mission High

One School, How Experts Tried to Fail It, and the Students and Teachers Who Made It Triumph

by Kristina Rizga ...

"This book is a godsend a moving portrait for anyone wanting to go beyond the simplified labels and metrics and really understand an urban high school, and its highly individual, resilient, eager and brilliant students and educators." -- Dave Eggers, co-founder, 826 National and ScholarMatchDarrell is a reflective, brilliant young man, who never thought of himself as a good student. He always ... Read more

$9.99 USD

"This book is a godsend a moving portrait for anyone wanting to go beyond the simplified labels and metrics and really understand an urban high school, and its highly individual, resilient, eager and brilliant students and educators." -- Dave Eggers, co-founder, 826 National and ScholarMatchDarrell is a reflective, brilliant young man, who never thought of himself as a good student. He always
... Read more
Scale

The Universal Laws of Life, Growth, and Death in Organisms, Cities, and Companies

by Geoffrey West ...

**"This is science writing as wonder and as inspiration." —The Wall Street JournalWall Street JournalFrom one of the most influential scientists of our time, a dazzling exploration of the hidden laws that govern the life cycle of everything from plants and animals to the cities we live in.**Visionary physicist Geoffrey West is a pioneer in the field of complexity science, the science of emergent ... Read more

$13.99 USD

**"This is science writing as wonder and as inspiration." —The Wall Street JournalWall Street JournalFrom one of the most influential scientists of our time, a dazzling exploration of the hidden laws that govern the life cycle of everything from plants and animals to the cities we live in.**Visionary physicist Geoffrey West is a pioneer in the field of complexity science, the science of emergent
... Read more
Life After Cars

Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile

by Sarah Goodyear, Doug Gordon, Aaron Naparstek ...

**NATIONAL BESTSELLERFrom the hosts of The War on Cars podcast, a searing indictment of how cars ruin everything—and what we can do to fight back**When the very first cars rolled off production lines, they were a technological marvel, predicted to make life easier and better for all Americans; yet a hundred years later, that dream is running on empty.Instead of unbounded freedom, the never-ending ... Read more

$13.99 USD

**NATIONAL BESTSELLERFrom the hosts of The War on Cars podcast, a searing indictment of how cars ruin everything—and what we can do to fight back**When the very first cars rolled off production lines, they were a technological marvel, predicted to make life easier and better for all Americans; yet a hundred years later, that dream is running on empty.Instead of unbounded freedom, the never-ending
... Read more
Bicycle/Race

Transportation, Culture, & Resistance

by Adonia E. Lugo, PhD ...

Bicycle/Race paints an unforgettable picture of Los Angeles—and the United States—from the perspective of two wheels. This is a book of borderlands and intersections, a cautionary tale about the dangers of putting infrastructure before culture, and a coming-of-age story about power and identity. The colonial history of southern California is interwoven through Adonia Lugo's story of growing up ... Read more

$9.99 USD or Free with Kobo Plus

Bicycle/Race paints an unforgettable picture of Los Angeles—and the United States—from the perspective of two wheels. This is a book of borderlands and intersections, a cautionary tale about the dangers of putting infrastructure before culture, and a coming-of-age story about power and identity. The colonial history of southern California is interwoven through Adonia Lugo's story of growing up
... Read more
Smack

Heroin and the American City

by Eric C. Schneider ...

Series series Politics and Culture in Modern America
Why do the vast majority of heroin users live in cities? In his provocative history of heroin in the United States, Eric C. Schneider explains what is distinctively urban about this undisputed king of underworld drugs.During the twentieth century, New York City was the nation's heroin capital—over half of all known addicts lived there, and underworld bosses like Vito Genovese, Nicky Barnes, and ... Read more

$28.99 USD

Why do the vast majority of heroin users live in cities? In his provocative history of heroin in the United States, Eric C. Schneider explains what is distinctively urban about this undisputed king of underworld drugs.During the twentieth century, New York City was the nation's heroin capital—over half of all known addicts lived there, and underworld bosses like Vito Genovese, Nicky Barnes, and
... Read more
The Invention of the Future

A History of Cities in the Modern World

by Bruno Carvalho ...

A kaleidoscopic and original new history of urbanization—from Lisbon to New York, Paris to Rio de Janeiro, and Buenos Aires to LagosFor the past three centuries, urban dwellers and planners have imagined future cities that would be radically different from those of the past. Planners pursued progress, whether focused on flying vehicles above, sewage systems below, or daily life in between. Yet, as ... Read more

$25.19 USD

A kaleidoscopic and original new history of urbanization—from Lisbon to New York, Paris to Rio de Janeiro, and Buenos Aires to LagosFor the past three centuries, urban dwellers and planners have imagined future cities that would be radically different from those of the past. Planners pursued progress, whether focused on flying vehicles above, sewage systems below, or daily life in between. Yet, as
... Read more
Rogues' Gallery

The Secret Story of the Lust, Lies, Greed, and Betrayals That Made the Metropolitan Museum of Art

by Michael Gross ...

“Behind almost every painting is a fortune and behind that a sin or a crime.”With these words as a starting point, Michael Gross, leading chronicler of the American rich, begins the first independent, unauthorized look at the saga of the nation’s greatest museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In this endlessly entertaining follow-up to his bestselling social history 740 Park, Gross pulls back ... Read more

Was $9.99 USD Now $4.99 USD

“Behind almost every painting is a fortune and behind that a sin or a crime.”With these words as a starting point, Michael Gross, leading chronicler of the American rich, begins the first independent, unauthorized look at the saga of the nation’s greatest museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In this endlessly entertaining follow-up to his bestselling social history 740 Park, Gross pulls back
... Read more
The Bowery

The Strange History of New York's Oldest Street

by Stephen Paul DeVillo ...

From peglegged Peter Stuyvesant to CBGB’s, the story of the Bowery reflects the history of the city that grew up around it.It was the street your mother warned you about—even if you lived in San Francisco. Long associated with skid row, saloons, freak shows, violence, and vice, the Bowery often showed the worst New York City had to offer. Yet there were times when it showed its best as well.The ... Read more

$16.99 USD

From peglegged Peter Stuyvesant to CBGB’s, the story of the Bowery reflects the history of the city that grew up around it.It was the street your mother warned you about—even if you lived in San Francisco. Long associated with skid row, saloons, freak shows, violence, and vice, the Bowery often showed the worst New York City had to offer. Yet there were times when it showed its best as well.The
... Read more
Long Live Queer Nightlife

How the Closing of Gay Bars Sparked a Revolution

by Amin Ghaziani ...

It’s closing time for an alarming number of gay bars in cities around the globe—but it’s definitely not the last danceIn this exhilarating journey into underground parties, pulsating with life and limitless possibility, acclaimed author Amin Ghaziani unveils the unexpected revolution revitalizing urban nightlife.Far from the gay bar with its largely white, gay male clientele, here is a dazzling ... Read more

$23.09 USD

It’s closing time for an alarming number of gay bars in cities around the globe—but it’s definitely not the last danceIn this exhilarating journey into underground parties, pulsating with life and limitless possibility, acclaimed author Amin Ghaziani unveils the unexpected revolution revitalizing urban nightlife.Far from the gay bar with its largely white, gay male clientele, here is a dazzling
... Read more
Hydraulic City

Water and the Infrastructures of Citizenship in Mumbai

by Nikhil Anand ...

In Hydraulic City Nikhil Anand explores the politics of Mumbai's water infrastructure to demonstrate how citizenship emerges through the continuous efforts to control, maintain, and manage the city's water. Through extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Mumbai's settlements, Anand found that Mumbai's water flows, not through a static collection of pipes and valves, but through a dynamic ... Read more

$20.99 USD

In Hydraulic City Nikhil Anand explores the politics of Mumbai's water infrastructure to demonstrate how citizenship emerges through the continuous efforts to control, maintain, and manage the city's water. Through extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Mumbai's settlements, Anand found that Mumbai's water flows, not through a static collection of pipes and valves, but through a dynamic
... Read more

eReaders

Apps

Accessories

Shopping Cart

You're getting the VIP treatment!

Your Shopping Cart is empty

Available:

1 audiobook monthly

+ FREE 30-day trial

Available:

1 audiobook monthly

+ FREE 30-day trial

Recommended For You

Urban eBooks

Show: