Bird on Fire

Ross (social & cultural analysis, New York Univ.; Fast Boat to China: Corporate Flight and the Consequences of Free Trade) has written yet another in-depth exploratory work, this time examining the social, ecological, economic, and political intricacies of Phoenix, which have cumulated to create a city that has long since outgrown its ability to sustain itself. In this extremely thorough and well-researched book, he discusses several positive and negative issues that have impacted the city, including battles for water rights, immigration policies, key legislative decisions, social injustices, and environmental degradation. While it might seem as if Ross presents an exclusively doom-and-gloom scenario, he also focuses on possible ways to take unsustainable practices and make changes (e.g., enticing growth for solar-power production, altering water rights and government policies to help farmers grow food locally). He argues that it's possible for Phoenix to rectify past mistakes and for the city to become a sustainable metropolis.