NA

Loved this book and City of Quartz. Highly recommended to anyone interested in LA or southern California.
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This is an outstanding book with a wide appeal. I think everyone from people interested in the sociology of cities to science fiction fans to readers who wonder how humans can ignore obvious risks will find something in this book to like. It discusses many of the problems of Los Angeles including earthquakes, droughts, mudslides, unplanned urbanization, wildfires, tornadoes, wild animals and urban blight. In the middle he pauses to read every book and see every movie that depicts the destruction of Los Angeles. He breaks them down into categories and then discusses several from each group.

On top of having so much information, this book is a joy to read, moving along at a rapid pace and pulling the reader in. I have only two complaints which made me rate this 4 instead of 5. One, there isn't one cohesive over-riding thesis. Two, is that there is no bibliography so when you want more information (or the list of all the dystopian LA fiction), you have to ferret it out of the footnotes. ( )

http://archidose.blogspot.com/2005/05/book-review-ecology-of-fear.html ( )

Davis is a brainwashed rabid Marxist and uses natural disasters combined with convoluted reasoning and his dubious ethics to attack capitalism and wealthy people. Sometimes he does come to some valid conclusions, like his case for letting brush fires burn in Malibu but he does so for all the wrong reasons (his bitter desire to punish the wealthy instead of promoting individual preparedness and cost cutting on firefighting). Book is replete with recent California history of disasters, photos, and policy advocacy. Despite being an evil Marxist he brings up some good points and this book is thought provoking in a refreshing "think-outside-the-box," sort of way. ( )