Skip to content

Heat Wave A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (Illinois)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Heat Wave A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (Illinois) Paperback - 2003

by Eric Klinenberg


From the publisher

On Thursday, July 13, 1995, Chicagoans awoke to a blistering day in which the temperature would reach 106 degrees. The heat index, which measures how the temperature actually feels on the body, would hit 126 degrees by the time the day was over. Meteorologists had been warning residents about a two-day heat wave, but these temperatures did not end that soon. When the heat wave broke a week later, city streets had buckled; the records for electrical use were shattered; and power grids had failed, leaving residents without electricity for up to two days. And by July 20, over seven hundred people had perished-more than twice the number that died in the Chicago Fire of 1871, twenty times the number of those struck by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 in the great Chicago heat wave, one of the deadliest in American history.
Heat waves in the United States kill more people during a typical year than all other natural disasters combined. Until now, no one could explain either the overwhelming number or the heartbreaking manner of the deaths resulting from the 1995 Chicago heat wave. Meteorologists and medical scientists have been unable to account for the scale of the trauma, and political officials have puzzled over the sources of the city's vulnerability. In Heat Wave, Eric Klinenberg takes us inside the anatomy of the metropolis to conduct what he calls a "social autopsy," examining the social, political, and institutional organs of the city that made this urban disaster so much worse than it ought to have been.
Starting with the question of why so many people died at home alone, Klinenberg investigates why some neighborhoods experienced greater mortality than others, how the city government responded to the crisis, and how journalists, scientists, and public officials reported on and explained these events. Through a combination of years of fieldwork, extensive interviews, and archival research, Klinenberg uncovers how a number of surprising and unsettling forms of social breakdown including the literal and social isolation of seniors, the institutional abandonment of poor neighborhoods, and the retrenchment of public assistance programs contributed to the high fatality rates. The human catastrophe, he argues, cannot simply be blamed on the failures of any particular individuals or organizations. For when hundreds of people die behind locked doors and sealed windows, out of contact with friends, family, community groups, and public agencies, everyone is implicated in their demise.
As Klinenberg demonstrates in this incisive and gripping account of the contemporary urban condition, the widening cracks in the social foundations of American cities that the 1995 Chicago heat wave made visible have by no means subsided as the temperatures returned to normal. The forces that affected Chicago so disastrously remain in play in America's cities, and we ignore them at our peril."

First line

HASH(0x11097610)

Details

  • Title Heat Wave A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (Illinois)
  • Author Eric Klinenberg
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition [ Edition: first
  • Pages 328
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher University Of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
  • Date July 15, 2003
  • ISBN 9780226443225

About the author

Eric Klinenberg is professor of sociology and director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University. The recipient of an Individual Projects Fellowship from the Open Society Institute in 2000, he is the coeditor of The Making and Unmaking of Whiteness and a regular contributor to Le Monde Diplomatique.
Back to Top

More Copies for Sale

Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (Illinois)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (Illinois)

by Eric Klinenberg

  • Used
Condition
Used - Very Good
ISBN 13
9780226443225
ISBN 10
0226443221
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$3.78
NZ$5.07 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
University of Chicago Press. Used - Very Good. . . All orders guaranteed and ship within 24 hours. Your purchase supports More Than Words, a nonprofit job training program for youth, empowering youth to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business.
Item Price
NZ$3.78
NZ$5.07 shipping to USA
Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (Illinois)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (Illinois)

by Klinenberg, Eric

  • Used
Condition
Used - Good
ISBN 13
9780226443225
ISBN 10
0226443221
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Frederick, Maryland, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$6.91
NZ$6.74 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
University Of Chicago Press. Used - Good. Good condition. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
Item Price
NZ$6.91
NZ$6.74 shipping to USA
Heat Wave : A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago

Heat Wave : A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago

by Eric Klinenberg

  • Used
  • good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780226443225
ISBN 10
0226443221
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Seattle, Washington, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$10.12
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
University of Chicago Press, 2003. Paperback. Good. Former library book; Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
Item Price
NZ$10.12
FREE shipping to USA
Heat Wave : A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago

Heat Wave : A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago

by Eric Klinenberg

  • Used
  • good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780226443225
ISBN 10
0226443221
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Seattle, Washington, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$10.12
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
University of Chicago Press, 2003. Paperback. Good. Disclaimer:A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact. The spine may show signs of wear. Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include previous owner inscriptions. The dust jacket is missing. At ThriftBooks, our motto is: Read More, Spend Less.
Item Price
NZ$10.12
FREE shipping to USA
Heat Wave : A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago

Heat Wave : A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago

by Eric Klinenberg

  • Used
  • good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780226443225
ISBN 10
0226443221
Quantity Available
9
Seller
Seattle, Washington, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$10.14
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
University of Chicago Press, 2003. Paperback. Good. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
Item Price
NZ$10.14
FREE shipping to USA
Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (Illinois)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (Illinois)

by Eric Klinenberg

  • Used
  • Paperback
Condition
Used: Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780226443225
ISBN 10
0226443221
Quantity Available
1
Seller
HOUSTON, Texas, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$11.76
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
University Of Chicago Press, 2003-07-15. Paperback. Used: Good.
Item Price
NZ$11.76
FREE shipping to USA
Heat Wave : A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Heat Wave : A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago

by Klinenberg, Eric

  • Used
Condition
Used - Good
ISBN 13
9780226443225
ISBN 10
0226443221
Quantity Available
5
Seller
Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$12.23
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
University of Chicago Press. Used - Good. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages.
Item Price
NZ$12.23
FREE shipping to USA
Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (Illinois)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (Illinois)

by Eric Klinenberg

  • Used
  • Paperback
Condition
Used Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780226443225
ISBN 10
0226443221
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Kutztown, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$12.67
NZ$9.29 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
University Of Chicago Press, July 2003. Trade Paperback . Used Good. We carry new and used books in our storefront. We want you to be satisfied with your purchase. Please contact us if you have questions regarding this item.
Item Price
NZ$12.67
NZ$9.29 shipping to USA
Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (Illinois)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (Illinois)

by Eric Klinenberg

  • Used
  • Paperback
Condition
Used:Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780226443225
ISBN 10
0226443221
Quantity Available
1
Seller
HOUSTON, Texas, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$25.24
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
University Of Chicago Press, 2003-07-15. Paperback. Used:Good.
Item Price
NZ$25.24
FREE shipping to USA
Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (Illinois)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (Illinois)

by Eric Klinenberg

  • Used
  • very good
  • Paperback
  • Signed
  • first
Condition
Used - Very Good
Edition
First Edition
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780226443225
ISBN 10
0226443221
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$42.23
NZ$8.87 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
University Of Chicago Press, 2003-07-15. First Edition. Paperback. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Signed. Flat-signed by author on first page in black ink, Very Good Plus condition, no creases in spine no slant, tight clean unmarked.
Item Price
NZ$42.23
NZ$8.87 shipping to USA