Why read The City Beneath?

Book cover of The City Beneath

Book description

A sweeping history of Los Angeles told through the lens of the many marginalized groups-from hobos to taggers-that have used the city's walls as a channel for communication

Graffiti written in storm drain tunnels, on neighborhood walls, and under bridges tells an underground and, until now, untold history of Los…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The City Beneath as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Rafael Schacter

Author

I learned so much from reading anthropologist Susan Phillips’ fantastic account of Los Angeles over the last 100 years. Exploring the history of the city from the ground up, she combines a microscopic analysis of the city’s diverse graffiti cultures–from the graffiti of hobos to that of surfers, prisoners, and punks–with a macroscopic account of the changing nature of this most famous megalopolis.

I loved the beautiful, intimate images Philips included, as well as her refreshing, first-person appearance throughout the book. More than anything, though, I really enjoyed the way that Phillip's approach extends the understanding of 20th-century graffiti beyond…

From Rafael's list on The best books on graffiti (for art lovers and urbanists alike).