Mike Davis and the story of Los Angeles

The influential author scrapped boosterism for a dimmer view of a city shaped by developers, politicians and a militarized police force.

We had last talked in July, when the two of us spent hours at his San Diego home chatting about his life and, well, life.

Mike Davis, who died Tuesday, was both a towering public intellectual and — crucially — a perpetual outsider and dissident, writes his co-author, Jon Wiener.

Yes, ‘City of Quartz.’ But what other Mike Davis books are required reading for understanding Los Angeles? David Ulin shares his picks.

In many of his books, Mike Davis seems to foretell the violent forces shaping Los Angeles’ present and future. Where does this prophetic talent come from?

Even in his final act, the legendary scholar and theorist does not mince words. He sees an L.A. that is decaying from the bottom up.

The hailed and hated author opines on life, love and — his specialty — disaster

In “Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the Sixties,” Mike Davis and Jon Wiener track the uprisings, outrages and elections that shaped the city.

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In the late ‘80s, Mike Davis would drive a truck for a week, come in off the road to deliver a college lecture, and go back out again.

On the Wrong Road to Paradise