Vol.
7, No. 2, May 2006
Books of Note
Best,
Joel. 2006 Flavor of the Month: Why Smart People Fall For
Fads. California: University of California Press. Best explores
the life cycle and role of institutional fads in academia and
other professional spheres, mapping the mania for fads to both
deeply rooted American values and the influence of consumer culture.
Lanham,
Richard A. 2006. The Economics of Attention: Style and
Substance in the Age of Information.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Lanham explores the rise
of the "information economy,"characterized by surfeit
rather than scarcity, and the importance of style in attracting
and directing the attention of oversaturated consumers.
Miller,
Laura J.
2006. Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of
Consumption.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Miller examines the conflict
between chain and independent booksellers in the U.S., and how
that relates to different cultural models of consumption.
Schlosser,
Eric and Charles Wilson. 2006. Chew on This: Everything
You Don't Want to Know about Fast Food.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin. The author of Fast Food Nation
serves up a disturbing "behind-the-scenes" look at the production,
content and consequences of fast food.
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