A Dangerous Place: California's Unsettling Fate - Softcover

Reisner, Marc

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0142003832 ISBN 13: 9780142003831

Publisher: Penguin Books, 2004

Synopsis

Writing with a signature command of his subject and with compelling resonance, Marc Reisner leads us through California's improbable rise from a largely desert land to the most populated state in the nation, fueled by an economic engine more productive than all of Africa. Reisner believes that the success of this last great desert civilization hinges on California's denial of its own inescapable fate: Both the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas sit astride two of the most violently seismic zones on the planet. The earthquakes that have already rocked California were, according to Reisner, a mere prologue to a future cataclysm that will result in immense destruction. Concluding with a hypothetical but chillingly realistic description of what such a disaster would look like, A Dangerous Place mixes science, history, and cultural commentary in a haunting work of profound importance.

About this title

Review:

"Reisner manages the nearly impossible feat of explaining geopolitical history, hydro-engineering, plate tectonics and comparative seismology in an engaging, delightfully literate fashion. This important book will appeal to many, including those outside the Golden State. Environmentalists will naturally go for it, but Reisner's witty, concise prose will attract general readers, too." --Publishers Weekly

"This posthumous work by the author of the award-winning Cadillac Desert is a fitting tribute to his environmental concerns and the power of his writing." --Library Journal

"Nothing Stephen King has ever written is nearly as frightening." --The San Diego Union-Tribune

About the Author:

Marc Reisner worked for many years at the Natural Resources Defense Council. His Cadillac Desert was a National Book Critics Circle Award nominee. He died in 2000.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0142003832
• ISBN 13: 9780142003831
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208