Mike Davis, it is said, "holds the keys to understanding the city of Los Angeles and much else" (Lingua Franca). A former meatcutter and long-distance truck driver, he has taught urban theory at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, was a fellow at the Getty Institute, and was recently awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. The author of Prisoners of the American Dream and City of Quartz, he writes regularly for The Nation, Grand Street, Sierra Magazine, L.A. Weekly, and the Los Angeles Times. Born in Los Angeles, he now lives in Pasadena.