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Article: `Murder by Public Policy'.(Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago)
- Article from:
- The Nation
- Article date:
- September 2, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Nation Company L.P. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago. By Eric Klinenberg. Chicago. 305 pp. $27.50.
I am writing this review in the midst of a Chicago heat wave, almost exactly seven years after the heat disaster that killed nearly 800 people in the city. The Chicago Tribune's multicolored weather page adorns the forecast with a special "excessive heat watch" symbol--an exclamation point lodged in a red circle--newscasters earnestly tell us to stay inside and take it easy, and veteran black radio deejay Herb Kent, the Kool Gent, chats on-air about liquor and caffeinated drinks being dehydrating and the need to drink lots of "good old [H.sub.2]O."
I ...