Thirty-five years ago, a billboard announced to the world: "Smile Los Angeles You're the Center of the Universe." Hyperbolic at the time, today, this exaggeration comes close to reality. While Southern California is not at the literal center of the universe, it is nevertheless an eye-popping illustration of our globalizing world. Over the course of forty years of reporting, author James Flanigan has written about Southern California for such publications as Forbes and the New York Times. In this book, Flanigan provocatively distills his experiences with and knowledge of the...