Who recommended City of Quartz?

3 people have recommended City of Quartz in the interviews, articles and reading lists we track, including Mark Harris, Dan Davies and Anne Helen Petersen. Each name links to their full reading list.

Is City of Quartz worth reading?

3 people we track recommend it. It is best for: a city planner at municipal government weighing redevelopment proposals — helps trace how past zoning and investment patterns created today's power imbalances and likely opposition lines; a graduate student in urban sociology preparing a paper on Los Angeles inequality — offers dense case material and narrative leads to interrogate in seminar or footnotes; a neighborhood organizer facing displacement or a large development project — supplies historical examples of past coalitions, displacement tactics, and institutional players to study. It may not suit: you'll likely put it down when the narrative becomes a long series of incidents and polemical denunciations; the middle stretches can feel like repeated proof-texting; annoying if you prefer neutral, even-toned history or clear, pragmatic takeaways — the book is often argumentative rather than conciliatory; not for readers wanting hands-on solutions or exercises — offers analysis and examples but no step-by-step policy playbook or practical toolkit.

What books are like City of Quartz?

Readers of City of Quartz also turn to Outliers, The Tipping Point and The WEIRDest People in the World, based on the lists and recommenders these books share.

City of Quartz by Mike Davis: Recommended by 3 People

Name: City of Quartz
Author: Mike Davis

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 havenots....