The book opens with Davis visiting the ruins of the Whites-only socialist community of
Llano, organized in 1914 in what is now the
Antelope Valley north of Los Angeles. After power struggles between commune members and difficulty securing water, the community moved in 1918, leaving behind what Davis perceives as a "ghost" of an alternative future for LA. Davis then explores intellectuals' competing ideas of Los Angeles, from the "sunshine" promoted by real estate boosters early in the 20th century, to the "debunkers," the muckraking journalists of the early century, to the "
noir" writers of the 1930s and the exiles fleeing from fascism in Europe, and finally the "sorcerers," the scientists at
Caltech. The rest of the book explores how different groups wielded power in different ways: the downtown Protestant elite, led by the
Chandler family of the
Los Angeles Times; the new elite of the Jewish
Westside; the surprisingly powerful homeowner groups; the
Los Angeles Police Department. He covers the Irish leadership of the Catholic Church and its friction with the numerically dominant Latino element. The book concludes at what Davis calls the "junkyard of dreams," the former steel town of
Fontana, east of LA, a victim of de-industrialization and decay. The second edition of the book, published in 2006, contains a new preface detailing changes in Los Angeles since
City of Quartz was first published. == Critical reception ==