{"product_id":"under-the-perfect-sun-the-san-diego-tourists-never-see-9781644215449","title":"Under the Perfect Sun: The San Diego Tourists Never See","description":"\u003cb\u003eA muckraking history of San Diego that covers the city's historically recent shift from politically conservative to politically progressive while also outlining a new cast of right-wing villains and tenacious activists fighting for social justice. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Behind the luminous veneer of San Diego, there is also a powerful story of radical activism and resistance--vital inspiration for our times.\" --Angela Davis \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A left-leaning, fascinating history of San Diego that debunks the notion of America's Finest City.\"―\u003ci\u003eSan Diego Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSan Diego is a sunny paradise for over thirty million tourists each year. But America's eighth largest metropolis conceals a vast dark side of militarization, economic inequality, municipal corruption, and racial injustice. This updated and expanded edition of \u003ci\u003eUnder the Perfect Sun \u003c\/i\u003econtains three muckraking essays that expose the underbelly of this city and interrogate its recent turn from red to blue. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMike Davis outlines the making and re-making of San Diego by a series of largely unchecked local plutocrats, from the snarling Republicans of old to what he calls \"high tech . . . opportunist Clinton Democracy.\" He moves from John D. Spreckels' crushing dissent amidst the Free Speech Fight during the Progressive era to a new class of politically shapeshifting business elites ushering in the \"tidal wave of gentrification\" that continues to this day. Jim Miller offers a bottom-up, peoples' history of San Diego from the perspective of activists of all stripes--workers, immigrants, civil rights, and anti-war advocates--seeking to challenge the local hegemony. And oral historian Kelly Mayhew sketches life in this tourist wonderland with a series of interviews that reveal the \"Other San Diego,\" including stories from a wide range of local activists and everyday citizens who share the reality of living in San Diego. This twentieth-anniversary edition is an ode to one of America's most complex cities.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Mike Davis,Kelly Mayhew,Jim Miller\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Seven Stories Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/26\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 528\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.17lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.24h x 5.55w x 1.44d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781644215449\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMike Davis\u003c\/b\u003e (1946-2022) was a legendary modern American historian, self-described urban theorist, and political activist. His 1998 book \u003ci\u003eEcology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster\u003c\/i\u003e is a prescient commentary on capitalism's role in the rise of natural disasters in California. \u003ci\u003eThe Monster at Our Door: The Global Threat of Avian Flu\u003c\/i\u003e (2005) describes the impact of economic disparity during pandemics. \u003ci\u003eCity of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles\u003c\/i\u003e (1990), \u003ci\u003eDead Cities and Other Tales\u003c\/i\u003e (2002), \u003ci\u003e Planet of Slums: Urban Involution and the Informal Working Class\u003c\/i\u003e (2006), and, with Jon Wiener, \u003ci\u003eSet the Night on Fire: L.A. in the Sixties\u003c\/i\u003e (2020) each addressed in new ways the most pressing problems facing our nation. Davis's writing appeared regularly in \u003ci\u003eThe Nation, The New Left Review, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eJacobin\u003c\/i\u003e. A distinguished professor emeritus in the Department of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside, Davis received a MacArthur \"genius\" grant in 1998 and won the Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction in 2007. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eJim Miller \u003c\/b\u003eis the author of the novels \u003ci\u003eDrift \u003c\/i\u003e(2024), \u003ci\u003eFlash \u003c\/i\u003e(2010), and \u003ci\u003eLast Days in Ocean Beach \u003c\/i\u003e(2018), and the editor of \u003ci\u003eSunshine\/Noir: Writing from San Diego \u0026amp; Tijuana\u003c\/i\u003e (2005) and, with Kelly Mayhew, \u003ci\u003eSunshine\/Noir II\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eDemocracy for Education; Education for Democracy: An Oral History of the American Federation of Teachers, Local 1931, 1969-2006 \u003c\/i\u003e(2016), and co-editor with Kelly Mayhew of \u003ci\u003eBetter to Reign in Hell: Inside the Raiders Fan Empire \u003c\/i\u003e(2005). A contributor to the \u003ci\u003eSan Diego Union-Tribune, The San Diego Free Press, American Book Review, \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e California Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e, among others, Miller is a professor of English and Labor Studies at San Diego City College and vice president of political action and community outreach for the American Federation of Teachers, Local 1931. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eKelly Mayhew \u003c\/b\u003eis a founding member of the San Diego Writers Collective and Managing Editor of City Works Press, a progressive, all-volunteer non-profit publishing project housed at City College. Co-author, alongside Jim Miller, of\u003ci\u003e Better to Reign in Hell: Inside the Raiders Fan Empire \u003c\/i\u003e(2005), Mayhew also co-edited, with Alys Masek, \u003ci\u003eMamas and Papas: On the Sublime and Heartbreaking Art of Parenting \u003c\/i\u003e(2010), with Paula S. Rothenberg, \u003ci\u003eRace, Class, and Gender in the United States: An Integrated Study 9th edition\u003c\/i\u003e (2013) and, with Jim Miller, \u003ci\u003eSunshine\/Noir II: Writing from San Diego \u0026amp; Tijuana \u003c\/i\u003e(2005). Mayhew is a professor of English, Humanities, Gender Studies, and Labor Studies at San Diego City College, where she also serves as vice president for the American Federation of Teachers, Local 1931.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Mike Davis \/ Paperback \/ English","offer_id":48363892211869,"sku":"9781644215449","price":31.14,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_2e1aadbb-5b30-4a1c-a244-f09a3dd9d185.jpg?v=1780429496","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/under-the-perfect-sun-the-san-diego-tourists-never-see-9781644215449","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}