I Still Don't Understand How Mike Davis Could Write Like That

I have never lived in Los Angeles, but I have probably spent more time thinking about L.A. than any other city that I haven't resided in. This is partly the fault of Hollywood, of Ice Cube and The White Album, of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Party Down, of the despised Lakers, but it's mostly the fault of Mike Davis. Davis, the historian and urban theorist who died on Tuesday, was probably my favorite writer about cities that I have ever read. He didn't only write about L.A., not by a long shot, but L.A. was his Beatrice, his Dark Lady. Every time I visit Los Angeles Davis' work floods through my brain, often down to specific words, phrases, and sentences.