Under the Perfect Sun

“Twenty years after its publication, Under the Perfect Sun makes a welcome return in this brilliant second edition. Bursting with vital insights and furious truths, this is a book that every San Diegan and Tijuanense should own. Davis, Miller and Mayhew show that the old city of venal politicians, corrupt contractors, and garrulous realtors is dead, but the new city of cultural vibrancy, multiracial democracy, and urban livability struggles to be born. As much as when it first appeared, Under the Perfect Sun points us toward a progressive urban movement capable of confronting the economic elites—and their enablers from both political parties.”—Daniel Widener, author of Third Worlds Within: Multiethnic Movements and Transnational Solidarity

“These riveting accounts of the secret history of San Diego reveal how militarism insinuated itself into economic, education, media, and political institutions, producing hidden, enduring structures of racism and exploitation. But behind the luminous veneer of San Diego, there is also a powerful story of radical activism and resistance—vital inspiration for our times.”
—Angela Y. Davis

“Definitely not on the Approved Reading List of the Convention & Visitors Bureau… . A provocative, in-your-suntanned-face history of San Diego.”
―San Diego Union-Tribune

“A left-leaning, fascinating history of San Diego that debunks the notion of America’s Finest City.”
―San Diego Magazine

“An accessible, often moving, account of tragicomic events in a surreal city.”
–Clamor

Mike Davis (1946-2022) was a legendary modern American historian, self-described urban theorist, and political activist. His 1998 book Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster is a prescient commentary on capitalism’s role in the rise of natural disasters in California. The Monster at Our Door: The Global Threat of Avian Flu (2005) describes the impact of economic disparity during pandemics. City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles (1990), Dead Cities and Other Tales (2002), Planet of Slums: Urban Involution and the Informal Working Class (2006), and, with Jon Wiener, Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the Sixties (2020) each addressed in new ways the most pressing problems facing our nation. Davis’s writing appeared regularly in The Nation, The New Left Review, and Jacobin. A distinguished professor emeritus in the Department of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside, Davis received a MacArthur “genius” grant in 1998 and won the Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction in 2007.

Jim Miller is the author of the novels Drift (2024), Flash (2010), and Last Days in Ocean Beach (2018), and the editor of Sunshine/Noir: Writing from San Diego & Tijuana (2005) and, with Kelly Mayhew, Sunshine/Noir II, and Democracy for Education; Education for Democracy: An Oral History of the American Federation of Teachers, Local 1931, 1969-2006 (2016), and co-editor with Kelly Mayhew of Better to Reign in Hell: Inside the Raiders Fan Empire (2005). A contributor to the San Diego Union-Tribune, The San Diego Free Press, American Book Review, and California Quarterly, among others, Miller is a professor of English and Labor Studies at San Diego City College and vice president of political action and community outreach for the American Federation of Teachers, Local 1931.

Kelly Mayhew is a founding member of the San Diego Writers Collective and Managing Editor of City Works Press, a progressive, all-volunteer non-profit publishing project housed at City College. Co-author, alongside Jim Miller, of Better to Reign in Hell: Inside the Raiders Fan Empire (2005), Mayhew also co-edited, with Alys Masek, Mamas and Papas: On the Sublime and Heartbreaking Art of Parenting (2010), with Paula S. Rothenberg, Race, Class, and Gender in the United States: An Integrated Study 9th edition (2013) and, with Jim Miller, Sunshine/Noir II: Writing from San Diego & Tijuana (2005). Mayhew is a professor of English, Humanities, Gender Studies, and Labor Studies at San Diego City College, where she also serves as vice president for the American Federation of Teachers, Local 1931.

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