SKU: 96804195525

Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago

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Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in ChicagoOn Thursday, July 13, 1995, Chicagoans awoke to a blistering day in which the temperature would reach 106 degrees. The heat index, which measures how the temperature actually feels on the body, would hit 126 degrees by the time the day was over. Meteorologists had been warning residents about a two day heat wave, but these temperatures did not end that soon. When the heat wave broke a week later, city streets had buckled; the records for electrical

On Thursday, July 13, 1995, Chicagoans awoke to a blistering day in which the temperature would reach 106 degrees. The heat index, which measures how the temperature actually feels on the body, would hit 126 degrees by the time the day was over. Meteorologists had been warning residents about a two-day heat wave, but these temperatures did not end that soon. When the heat wave broke a week later, city streets had buckled; the records for electrical use were shattered; and power grids had failed, leaving residents without electricity for up to two days. And by July 20, over seven hundred people had perished-more than twice the number that died in the Chicago Fire of 1871, twenty times the number of those struck by Hurricane Andrew in 1992--in the great Chicago heat wave, one of the deadliest in American history.

Heat waves in the United States kill more people during a typical year than all other natural disasters combined. Until now, no one could explain either the overwhelming number or the heartbreaking manner of the deaths resulting from the 1995 Chicago heat wave. Meteorologists and medical scientists have been unable to account for the scale of the trauma, and political officials have puzzled over the sources of the city's vulnerability. In Heat Wave, Eric Klinenberg takes us inside the anatomy of the metropolis to conduct what he calls a social autopsy, examining the social, political, and institutional organs of the city that made this urban disaster so much worse than it ought to have been.

Starting with the question of why so many people died at home alone, Klinenberg investigates why some neighborhoods experienced greater mortality than others, how the city government responded to the crisis, and how journalists, scientists, and public officials reported on and explained these events. Through a combination of years of fieldwork, extensive interviews, and archival research, Klinenberg uncovers how a number of surprising and unsettling forms of social breakdown--including the literal and social isolation of seniors, the institutional abandonment of poor neighborhoods, and the retrenchment of public assistance programs--contributed to the high fatality rates. The human catastrophe, he argues, cannot simply be blamed on the failures of any particular individuals or organizations. For when hundreds of people die behind locked doors and sealed windows, out of contact with friends, family, community groups, and public agencies, everyone is implicated in their demise.

As Klinenberg demonstrates in this incisive and gripping account of the contemporary urban condition, the widening cracks in the social foundations of American cities that the 1995 Chicago heat wave made visible have by no means subsided as the temperatures returned to normal. The forces that affected Chicago so disastrously remain in play in America's cities, and we ignore them at our peril.

For the Second Edition Klinenberg has added a new Preface showing how climate change has made extreme weather events in urban centers a major challenge for cities and nations across our planet, one that will require commitment to climate-proofing changes to infrastructure rather than just relief responses.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 05/06/2015
ISBN: 9780226276182
Pages: 328
Weight: 1.06lbs
Size: 8.94h x 6.13w x 0.85d
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SKU: 96804195525

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4.2 ★★★★★
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G
Ghost Mutt
Grantham, US
★★★★★ 2
Not that great
Huge "The Simpsons" fan. I watched all the episodes and read a lot of the comics and enjoy most. This one however was quite boring. Turns out I'm just not a big fan of Chief Wiggum. I really enjoyed The "Homer" and "Bart" book. But not this one. Maybe if you love Wiggum you'll love it. If you're not too fond of him then I wouldn't buy it.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2013
J
Justine
Belleville, US
★★★★★ 3
Good for my collection.
Format: Hardcover
This was another quick and entertaining read. This instalment wasn't as enjoyable as some of the other books but it was still good. I'm glad to have it in my collection.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2014
N
Nicolas Castaneda
Massapequa, US
★★★★★ 5
Another great book about Simpsons
If you have read "The Simpsons: A complete guide of our favorite family", And "The Simpsons Forever", you're gonna find this book an exellent one, it answer a lot of questions about all the customes. An if do you like The Simpsons comic, it contains s lot of the best titles of this editions. Definitly you must have it.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2000
D
Daniel Heinrich
New York, US
★★★★★ 5
A humorous collection.
This was a wonderful book that I enjoyed reading. It contains some hillarious comics that made my stomach hurt from laughing. It is another wonder of the Bongo Comics Group. It is an assential for any true simpsons fan.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2001
M
Verified Purchase
mwreview
Chelsea, US
★★★★★ 4
Go-Go and Buy this Book
This was the twelfth Simpsons Comics book I've read and, while it's not the best of the dozen, it is still a very funny book and a must for the Simpsons comics connoisseur (you got to love the cover art). Here's what you get: "Rhymes and Misdemeanors": Martin Prince is in love with Lisa and, when his love is unrequited, they both do battle in the form of poetry readings at a nightclub dissing each other. "The Great Springfield Frink-Out": A giant mishap occurs at the Frink labs (actually someone put tin foil in the microwave). This event causes everything to be topsy-turvy in Springfield, for example, Marge is the mayor, Homer is a mobster, Cecil is the celebrity clown, and Bart has ambitions to be as cool as Milhouse. "Tiger Teen": Fun mock mini mag in the style of those old 16 and Tiger Beat teen magazines of our youth. Of course, this one features Homer's barber shop group Be Sharps ("Homer Answers 40 Intimate Questions"-is that a perfect copy of those teen magazines or what?). There are also a few familiar names of 80s pop stars on the cover ("Cory Hart Takes off his Sunglasses-Exclusive photos!") "Burnsie on Board": Mr. Burns tries to live out his boyhood dream of being an Olympic skiing gold medalist by enlisting the help of Bart. "To Live and Diaper in Springfield": To pay for an expensive toilet paper dispenser Homer desires from an extravagant shopping network, Marge starts a daycare center. Her attention to other babies (particularly the one with the single eyebrow) causes Maggie to run away. "Fan-Tasty Island": Mr. Burns needs a rare toxin to get by the Coalition to Reduce Air Pollution. This toxin can only be found inside a wood carving on a remote island. The perfect cover-up is to send a family to find the treasure-the Simpsons, of course. Very funny comic, but the ending is a little far-fetched.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2003

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