{"title":"Oliver Wang","description":"Oliver Wang is a professor of sociology at CSU-Long Beach and the author of Legions of Boom: Filipino American Mobile DJ Crews of the San Francisco Bay Area (Duke Univ. Press, 2015). He is the curator for the Japanese American National Museum exhibition, Cruising J-Town: Behind the Wheel of the Nikkei Community, a summer\/fall 2025 exhibition about Japanese American car culture in Los Angeles. He is author and editor of the exhibition's companion book, to be published by Angel City Press. Oliver is a regular writer on music, arts and culture for outlets including NPR's All Things Considered, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Los Angeles Times, and KCET's Artbound. He has co-hosted the podcasts Pop Rocket and Heat Rocks and is currently developing a new podcast on the songs of Asian America. He currently lives in the San Gabriel Valley.","products":[{"product_id":"cruising-j-town-japanese-american-car-culture-in-los-angeles-hardcover","title":"Cruising J-Town: Japanese American Car Culture in Los Angeles - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA visual history of Japanese American car culture in Los Angeles, from gardeners' trucks and family sedans to hot rods and race cars.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFinalist, Foreword INDIES, Multicultural (Adult Nonfiction) \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFinalist, 2025 CALIBA Golden Poppy Awards, Glenn Goldman: California Lifestyle \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eCruising J-Town: Japanese American Car Culture in Los Angeles\u003c\/i\u003e explores how generations of Japanese Americans in Southern California shaped, and were shaped by, local automobile cultures and industries: from desert lakebeds to concrete speedways, gas stations to design centers, souped-up import tuners to humble gardening trucks. Along the way, cars and trucks became literal and figurative vehicles for Japanese American self-expression, social mobility, community identity, and much more. \u003ci\u003eCruising J-Town\u003c\/i\u003e is driven to explore how these diverse relationships between people and the world of cars have steered the Nikkei community's American stories across the generations. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eInterviews and oral histories chronicle the people and stories behind how Japanese Americans have played vital roles in countless car scenes throughout the region. \u003ci\u003eCruising J-Town\u003c\/i\u003e is filled with vintage and contemporary photographs, drawings and ephemera that bring the story to life.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51368454979807,"sku":"9781626401358","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/G1hF9kHXzH9781626401358.webp?v=1789128452"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/oliver-wang.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}