Awards

• Commended for Independent Publisher Book Awards (Ecology/Environment) 2009

Overview

Chronicles the rise of and efforts to combat pollution in Los Angeles in an account that traces the corporate science that contributed to pollution hazards, the region's related health problems, and the ways in which anti-pollution responses have shaped modern culture. 20,000 first printing.

Full Product Details

9781585678600

Table of Contents

Reviews

.. . the book is not lacking in historical heft. Instead, style delivers substance in true Hollywood fashion, with character-driven plots draped in glamour and sensation ... the history of smog has never been so sexy ... -- Los Angeles Times [S]tory of smog in all its hazy-and sometimes humorous-permutations ... a zany and provocative cultural history. -- Kirkus Finished with a particularly powerful, forward-looking epilogue, this friendly, accessible history should appeal to any American environmentalist. -- Publishers Weekly .. . a meticulous chronicle of the city's signature airborne grime and of the civic and social forces that emerged to stop it ... ... The story of Smogtown is that of a city vying against time to reconcile incommensurables ... -- Bookforum The narrative that emerges is more than a tale of a region and a populace besieged by smog; it is also a parable for a nation beset by environmental and social problems ... (a) well-researched cultural history -- Slate Writing in a hip, lively style, ...[An] intriguing social history of an environmental problem that won't go away. Recommended. - Library Journal .. . a well-documented, highly engaging, and widely relevant account of southern California's battle with the beast, as the authors lovingly refer to smog. ... Smogtown is not your typical green's diatribe against big business and weak government. No, Jacobs and Kelly are much smarter-and fairer-than that -- Sustainablog . .. the book is not lacking in historical heft. Instead, style delivers substance in true Hollywood fashion, with character-driven plots draped in glamour and sensation ... the history of smog has never been so sexy ... -- Los Angeles Times [S]tory of smog in all its hazy-and sometimes humorous-permutations ... a zany and provocative cultural history. -- Kirkus Finished with a particularly powerful, forward-looking epilogue, this friendly, accessible history should appeal to any American environmentalist. -- Publishers Weekly . .. a meticulous chronicle of the city''s signature airborne grime and of the civic and social forces that emerged to stop it ... ... The story of Smogtown is that of a city vying against time to reconcile incommensurables ... -- Bookforum The narrative that emerges is more than a tale of a region and a populace besieged by smog; it is also a parable for a nation beset by environmental and social problems ... (a) well-researched cultural history -- Slate Writing in a hip, lively style, ...[An] intriguing social history of an environmental problem that won''t go away. Recommended. - Library Journal . .. a well-documented, highly engaging, and widely relevant account of southern California''s battle with the beast, as the authors lovingly refer to smog. ... Smogtown is not your typical green''s diatribe against big business and weak government. No, Jacobs and Kelly are much smarter-and fairer-than that -- Sustainablog

.. . the book is not lacking in historical heft. Instead, style delivers substance in true Hollywood fashion, with character-driven plots draped in glamour and sensation ... the history of smog has never been so sexy ... -- Los Angeles Times <br> [S]tory of smog in all its hazy-and sometimes humorous-permutations ... a zany and provocative cultural history. -- Kirkus <br> Finished with a particularly powerful, forward-looking epilogue, this friendly, accessible history should appeal to any American environmentalist. -- Publishers Weekly <br> .. . a meticulous chronicle of the city's signature airborne grime and of the civic and social forces that emerged to stop it ... ... The story of Smogtown is that of a city vying against time to reconcile incommensurables ... -- Bookforum <br> The narrative that emerges is more than a tale of a region and a populace besieged by smog; it is also a parable for a nation beset by environmental and social problems ... (a) well-researched

. .. the book is not lacking in historical heft. Instead, style delivers substance in true Hollywood fashion, with character-driven plots draped in glamour and sensation ... the history of smog has never been so sexy ... -- Los Angeles Times <br><br> [S]tory of smog in all its hazy-and sometimes humorous-permutations ... a zany and provocative cultural history. -- Kirkus <br><br> Finished with a particularly powerful, forward-looking epilogue, this friendly, accessible history should appeal to any American environmentalist. -- Publishers Weekly <br><br> . .. a meticulous chronicle of the city''s signature airborne grime and of the civic and social forces that emerged to stop it ... ... The story of Smogtown is that of a city vying against time to reconcile incommensurables ... -- Bookforum <br><br> The narrative that emerges is more than a tale of a region and a populace besieged by smog; it is also a parable for a nation beset by environmental and social problems ... (a) well-researched cultural history -- Slate <br><br> Writing in a hip, lively style, ...[An] intriguing social history of an environmental problem that won''t go away. Recommended. - Library Journal <br><br> . .. a well-documented, highly engaging, and widely relevant account of southern California''s battle with the beast, as the authors lovingly refer to smog. ... Smogtown is not your typical green''s diatribe against big business and weak government. No, Jacobs and Kelly are much smarter-and fairer-than that -- Sustainablog <br><br>

.. . the book is not lacking in historical heft. Instead, style delivers substance in true Hollywood fashion, with character-driven plots draped in glamour and sensation ... the history of smog has never been so sexy ... -- Los Angeles Times [S]tory of smog in all its hazy-and sometimes humorous-permutations ... a zany and provocative cultural history. -- Kirkus Finished with a particularly powerful, forward-looking epilogue, this friendly, accessible history should appeal to any American environmentalist. -- Publishers Weekly .. . a meticulous chronicle of the city's signature airborne grime and of the civic and social forces that emerged to stop it ... ... The story of Smogtown is that of a city vying against time to reconcile incommensurables ... -- Bookforum The narrative that emerges is more than a tale of a region and a populace besieged by smog; it is also a parable for a nation beset by environmental and social problems ... (a) well-researched cultural history -- Slate Writing in a hip, lively style, ...[An] intriguing social history of an environmental problem that won't go away. Recommended. - Library Journal .. . a well-documented, highly engaging, and widely relevant account of southern California's battle with the beast, as the authors lovingly refer to smog. ... Smogtown is not your typical green's diatribe against big business and weak government. No, Jacobs and Kelly are much smarter-and fairer-than that -- Sustainablog

.. . the book is not lacking in historical heft. Instead, style delivers substance in true Hollywood fashion, with character-driven plots draped in glamour and sensation ... the history of smog has never been so sexy ... -- Los Angeles Times <br> [S]tory of smog in all its hazy-and sometimes humorous-permutations ... a zany and provocative cultural history. -- Kirkus <br> Finished with a particularly powerful, forward-looking epilogue, this friendly, accessible history should appeal to any American environmentalist. -- Publishers Weekly <br> .. . a meticulous chronicle of the city's signature airborne grime and of the civic and social forces that emerged to stop it ... ... The story of Smogtown is that of a city vying against time to reconcile incommensurables ... -- Bookforum <br> The narrative that emerges is more than a tale of a region and a populace besieged by smog; it is also a parable for a nation beset by environmental and social problems ... (a) wel

Author Information

Chip Jacobs has written for the Los Angeles Times, Daily News of Los Angeles, and L.A. Weekly. He is the author of Wheeling the Deal: The Outrageous Legend of Gordon Zahler, Hollywood's Flashiest Quadriplegic. William J. Kelly has written for L.A. Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, Alternet, and California Journal. He was chief spokesman for more than thirteen years of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the smog control agency for greater Los Angeles. He is the author of Home Sweet Home, and senior correspondent for California Energy Circuit. Both live in Los Angeles.

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