James Howard Kunstler. Author. Artist. Activist. NY.

The tragedy of suburbia.

I'm a BIG fan of Kunstler. He has written 13 books including the well known The Geography of Nowhere, a history of American suburbia + urban development, and the more recent The Long Emergency, about peak oil and the end of industrialized society.
He's also a wicked painter.
Check his blog at Clusterfuck Nation
kunstler.com