The Book Prize Index

City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles

Mike Davis

City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles is a 1990 book by American author Mike Davis proposing a theory that contemporary Los Angeles has been shaped by different powerful forces in its history.

HistoryAmerican History · medium confidenceAmerican History81 signalsLlm Classifier: American History -> American HistoryKeyword Classifier: American History -> American HistoryKeyword Classifier: Society & Culture -> Society & CultureHousing, Cities & Urban LifeMedia, Journalism & Public OpinionMigration & Diaspora

Award History

0 wins · 1 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
National Book Critics Circle Award for NonfictionMajor1990FinalistSecondary source
View all award history (1)
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies

This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.

  1. 01 Central figures

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  2. 02 Central places

    • Los Angeles90%

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    Contemporary Los Angeles was shaped by different powerful forces operating across its history, producing the city’s present form and conflicts.

    Model confidence 60%

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    45 / 100 academic

    Trade / academic crossover

    An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 62%.