Signs of Urban Life: On “The 99% Invisible City” and “The City Beneath”
Two books decipher the hidden meanings behind urban design, from sewage systems to graffiti art.
Oliver Wang is a professor of sociology at CSU Long Beach and a frequent writer on arts, culture, and the city. He has lived in the San Gabriel Valley for 20 cumulative years.
Two books decipher the hidden meanings behind urban design, from sewage systems to graffiti art.
Oliver Wang revisits the antihero tales of crime and grime of the 1995 legacy-making album “The Infamous” by Mobb Deep on its 25th anniversary.
A new book explores the wide range and deep history of African-American cuisine.
Oliver Wang digests books on the complicated history of Chinese-American cuisine and the problematic label of “ethnic food.”
Geoff Manaugh elevates burglars above petty criminal status and instead characterizes them as “drunk Jedis of architectural space.”
On Shea Serrano's new "Rap Year Book."
These records, like the collectors who chase after them, enjoy transient existences and sharing them gives that ephemerality some meaning and purpose.
In Fresh Off the Boat, Chef Eddie Huang’s thoughts on race and masculinity are provocative but they often result in the memoir’s most muddled...