Big Mall

by Kate Black

A phenomenology of the If the mall makes us feel bad, why do we keep going back? In a world poisoned by capitalism, is shopping what makes life worth living? In less than a century, the shopping mall has morphed from a blueprint for a socialist utopia to something else a home to disaffected mallrats and depressed zoo animals, a sensory overload and consumerist trap. Kate Black grew up in North America's largest West Edmonton Mall – a mall on steroids. It’s the site of a notoriously lethal rave for teenagers, a fatal rollercoaster accident, and more than one gun-range suicide; it’s where oil field workers reap the social mobility of a boom-and-bust economy, the impossibly large structure where teens attempt to invent themselves in dark Hollister sales racks and weird horny escapades in the indoor waterpark. It’s a place people love to hate and hate to love – a site of pleasure and pain, of death and violence, of (sub)urban legend. Can malls tell us something important about who we are? Blending a history of shopping with a story of coming-of-age in North America’s largest and strangest mall, Big Mall investigates how these structures have become the ultimate symbol of late-capitalist dread – and, surprisingly, a subversive site of hope. Ultimately, a close look at the mall reveals clues to how a good life in these times is possible.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Essays, Canada, Sociology, History, Memoir

184 pages, Paperback

Published February 13, 2024

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

i went into this super blind, turned out to be a short and sweet look at malls as a cultural symbol through a few different lenses. black focuses on the transitionary nature of malls and your interactions within the space + branches off to explore the relationship between malls and teenagers, animal enclosures within malls, tragic mall deaths and the future of the mall with the rise of mass abandonment. + she ties it all together with her experience growing up near the craziest mall in canada, west edmonton. it covers a lot of ground despite its short length and overall i really enjoyed her observations + takes :)

[Kate Black]

:)

[Olive Fellows (abookolive) · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Big Mall, essayist Kate Black uses the mall of her youth - Canada's West Edmonton Mall - to launch a number of larger discussions about the place of shopping malls in our lives. The collection of essays as a whole is great food for thought and will make you see malls in a whole new, deeper way.

Click here to hear more of my thoughts on this book (and one other book on malls) over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a slog to get through, which is strange for such a short book. There were so many unrelated tangents that I never understood what the author’s point was. I guess we needed 167 pages just to tell us she’s lonely 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Kate Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely incredible, and perhaps the most Edmonton book I have ever read. I didn't know what to expect when I picked it up, other than that some part of it called to my West Edmontonian soul and I knew I had to read it. I wasn't expecting to read it in one sitting, nor was I expecting it to be so deep or relatable. This was a perfect foray into the nostalgic innocence of the wasted days of my youth, endlessly wandering WEM's corridors, in a blissful search for meaning. But also a crushing realization of the weight and contradictions of our existence in a failing capitalist society. Like the author, I too have felt myself submit to a higher power in the depths of the wave pool, and felt acutely aware of my mortality in the shadow of the Mindbender. Though my adult self likes to consider myself above the mall, really, it's presence in my life was formative. Kate Black gets it.

[Blane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess this was supposed to be a dispatch on how we are all in the throes of and suffering from late-stage capitalism...a state of being with which I thoroughly agree. Unfortunately, though, Black (in a very short book) meanders all over the place, thereby diluting her premise to the point that I really did not care.

[Paolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Early in this book Kate says something like “I originally wanted to write a book about malls because I thought it’d be funny.”

And she’s right, it is funny! But it’s also insightful, relatable and beautifully-written. There’s infinite commentary about how the modern shopping mall represents whatever awful thing we want to say about society but Big Mall sidesteps a lot of this rote cynicism. Instead it uses malls as a launch point to discuss existing as a young person in 2024.

I can’t believe it made me price out flights to Edmonton. I gotta see this big mall.

[Laura Frey (Reading in Bed) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book blew me away. I went in thinking it was going to be a standard "micro history", or one of those nonfiction books where the authors engages in some kind of challenge or stunt (living in the mall? Not going to the mall? Getting a job at the mall? I dunno) and I was prepared to love it if that was the case, because I love (and hate, and resent, and miss) West Ed. But it isn't that at all, it's much more ambitious, and messy, and academic, and personal. I learned a ton, remembered a ton, and even felt defensive at times. I'm older than Black, and my experiences were different, so this mall isn't quite my mall. But it is THE mall.

I'm kind of flabbergasted that this book exists. As another reviewer noted (hi Dessa) this book is SO entirely my shit. Longer review to come on my blog!

[Sahar · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was my most anticipated book of the year and it delivered. i thought it was lovely, well thought out, sentimental without being corny, touched upon capitalism in a meaningful way, understanding, etc etc i could go on. i love malls. i have never been to west edmonton mall or the mall of america (i have been to all of the toronto/gta malls lmao) but i found it so easy to connect to what kate had to say about them because of this underlying love and comfort malls hold for us. i truly still feel like a mall kid.

i love this book so much i have a postcard type thing of the following quote at my desk at work:

"malls are very spacious places. they hold more than i thought possible, which might include what resembles hope"

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t think I’ve ever related more to an author. We’re both from Alberta, both moved to Vancouver, both vegan (I’ve also eaten oysters while vegan, girl I understand the struggle).

I have a lot of core memories from West Ed and it was truly fascinating reading about this familiar childhood landmark in the wider context of capitalism and beyond.

The fact that West Ed once had more operational submarines than the Canadian navy is hilarious to me. 10/10 on the fun facts.

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this and am aware that it is a very naive feeling but at times I felt like it was written just for me - made me feel sooo seen. I'll miss Edmonton forever and I'll never go back and nothing will give me the exact same feeling as watching videos of teenage boys jumping into the WEM lagoon.

[Dessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprise! It took me eleven months to read this book because it turned out I was still Too Wounded From Academia To Read Nonfiction For Fun last year. But now it’s this year and maybe I’m back?? I guess?? And this book was honestly the kindest reintroduction to nonfiction for fun: philosophical, compelling, well-researched, VERY funny, and also ultimately very tender? To love something you have to acknowledge its faults, I think, because otherwise you don’t see it at all — just an idealized version. Here, Black manages to see the mall both ways at once: as it is, in all its sprawling consumerist extractivism, but also in all its glory: a vision of achievable ease, comfort, futurity, safety, perfection. A very chewy and satisfying read!

[Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this debut novel from Kate. Her stories reminded me of past events in the mall; both good and bad. The mall has always been a part of our lives and has now extended to our grandchildren. Kate’s willingness to include personal stories was refreshing. Kate is a brilliant writer and I have enjoyed reading her previous essays. Look forward to more.

[Milana M (acouplereads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first read the title to this book I thought “a book about malls! The nostalgia!” As a teenager I worked at my local mall and spent many hours with friends there. If you have a local mall, it’s a bit of a right of a right of passage if you will, to spend ridiculous amounts of time just hanging out at the mall. At least it was for my generation (shoutout to the 1990s kids)! Do kids these days hang out at malls?

When @coachhousebooks pitched this book I knew I needed to read it. Black grew up near West Edmonton mall, at that time the largest mall in North America. It’s since been surpassed by some even larger malls. This one has a zoo, a theme park, water slides, etc etc. The book goes through mall culture, capitalism, teen connections to the mall (oh hello🙋‍♀️), tragic mall deaths, animal exploitation, mass mall closures during the pandemic and what’s in store for the future.

One of my goals this year is to read a non-fiction per month and this was the perfect start for me in January! If you’re looking for a quick read that covers a lot, grab this one. I found it conversational, so easy to digest and quite nostalgic. Thank you @coachhousebooks for the copy in exchange for a review, 4⭐️!

[Kieran · Rating 5 out of 5]

the edmonton experience: i love the mall, i hate the mall, lay me to rest with a viking funeral on the santa maria

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was intrigued to read BIG MALL: Shopping for Meaning by Kate Black because I’ve enjoyed going to the mall since I was a teenager and this was an interesting read! Black shares her experiences growing up and visiting the West Edmonton Mall which is the largest mall in North America. I’ve never been there before so it was interesting to learn more about it. This book gets into how the mall is a place people love to hate and hate to love due to consumerism, capitalism, endorphins, nostalgia and urban living. If I do ever go to Edmonton I’d love to visit the mall there!

Thank you to Coach House Books for my gifted review copy!

[Moira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing and my Edmontonian heart is singing. Kate’s incisive writing somehow seamlessly transitions between being devastating and hilarious (as if I expected anything else from her). She verbalized feelings around loneliness and self-image and detachment from tragedy that I didn’t know anyone else had. And now I feel like going to the mall again.

[Misty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was born in 1979 and so the mall has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, so the nostalgic memories that this book recalls was nice.

I found the researched, informational sections of the book quite fascinating, however the parts of the book that the author talked of her life left me bored and annoyed. Am I too old to relate? I honestly don’t really care if as a vegan she one time tried seafood…and how is that relevant? I really wonder if I just totally missed the point.

[Tess · Rating 2 out of 5]

1. I moved away from edmonton but came back because it's a good city. I find people who are too snobby for edmonton tiresome.
2. I wasn't allowed to hang out at west edmonton mall as a young teen because my parents thought it was too dangerous.
3. Black's lack of understanding and acknowledgment of class privilege was frustrating.
4. St. Albert

[Josee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intellectual but not elite, personal but not sentimental. A really thoughtful, masterfully written meditation on malls, and therefore our society and therefore ourselves.

[Fayrose Hajer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shallow and boring. Way too meandering. This was less about the mall than it was about Kate Black's insecurities.

[Gabriella · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fitting follow-up to my last audiobook, American Bulk: Essays on Excess by Emily Mester. In Big Mall, Kate Black provides some of the deeper dives I wanted on the structural levers influencing our endless consumerism, which of course is connected to mall culture.

In Body Horror: Capitalism, Fear, Misogyny, Jokes by Anne Elizabeth Moore, I learned about how capitalism is literally poisoning us. Our increasingly globalized food system is fueled by preservatives, mutations, and environmentally ruinous agricultural practices. As a result, we are experiencing skyrocketing rates of GI conditions and autoimmune diseases!! In Big Mall, Kate Black uses mall culture to show how capitalism is also *emotionally* poisoning us. Black explores how the supply chain has unhinged our moral compass, and distanced us from the human suffering that results in our access to consumer goods. I found Black to be a thoughtful, humble interrogator of her own indifference to these societal problems, many of which take place in malls.

Big Mall is decidedly wide-ranging, exploring everything from mall murders to mall captives (animals in department store zoos and aquariums) to dead malls. Back to my earlier notes, I really feel like this book had the takes on neoliberalism that I was missing in American Bulk. I loved the notes about how teen culture and mall culture were both created during the postwar boom to better sell products and delineate customers. In general, Black’s note is point is that the mall is a manifestation of everything in our modern times, including placemaking, being left to the market.

While all this was interesting in theory, I didn’t always love the execution. When describing her boredom with other people’s dead mall stories, Black comes to the conclusion that “no one’s nostalgia is as interesting as my own.” Unfortunately, I felt the same about too much of this book. As a planner and geography enthusiast, I found it mostly worth the listen (it’s only 5 hours, after all.) But unfortunately, it won’t be on any best of 2025 lists for me.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

as a preteen/teen growing up in suburban north america, the mall was sooo important to me so this was such a fun listen! what’s more fun is it was centred around west edmonton mall, a place i have only visited twice but memorably passed out on the mindbender (rip) during my physics class trip to galaxyland.

3.5 stars rounded up!

[katie kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate Black poses the axiom like teenage girl existentialist question of what is deep and what is shallow with the format of this book itself!! I loved shame and self reflective consideration being discussed through the narrative of malls :)

[Lorna Dielentheis]

DNF about halfway through-- Just not finding it a bit too rambly to follow. I thought it would be a bit more structured but it's reading very stream of consciousness, which just isn't working for me for this subject.

[Lauren Alexandra Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate Black’s essays on the mall drew me in and held me there. There is something so bizarre, wonderful, fucked up and gross all at the same time about our notorious landmark, and many of the delights and horrors found within are researched and reflected on in this book. From the philosophy and failed intention behind malls as a concept, to the series of animals kept within, to mall deaths both accidental and intentional, to mall rats, to Covid dreams of the mall, Kate covers all the corners of my mental mall map with thoughtful curiosity. There is a particular pleasure for me in reading about our weird little hometown, but even lovers of other malls will find something resonant in this little pink volume. Loved it!

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because I thought it was a social science book, but it read more like a series of stream-of-consciousness personal essays.

It had some interesting parts. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on animals. It was very inconsistent though. Certain sections were far less focused than others. The personal anecdotes about the author’s life often felt out of place and were the least interesting parts of the book. There didn’t appear to be much of a central thesis and a lot of the material felt only tangentially related to the topic.

My biggest issue, however, is that the author’s personal experiences differ too much from my own to resonate with me. As someone who built many lasting relationships at the mall and spent six years working there, I will never view it as a “non-space” or “junk space.” It was a very real and important pillar in my social life. It is a community within a community and her attempt to project her loneliness onto that space is not convincing to me. It’s just a place like any other, and what you make of it is up to you.

I get the sense from her writing that she is an intelligent person. She has a good sense of humor and we seem to be politically aligned, but I don’t really understand why she chose a book critiquing late capitalism as a vehicle for oversharing and trauma dumping. While I can admire her self-awareness and vulnerability, I’m still not sure I really wanted or needed to know about her Botox injections or childhood temper tantrums. She’s just not as average or relatable as she seems to think she is.

Most importantly, this book isn’t really about malls. It’s about a fundamental flaw in human nature that permeates everything we create. A seemingly innate greed that we have no solution for. Like we’re simply destined to suck meaning out of each other’s lives in order to inflate our own in an endless cycle until our refusal to acknowledge our inter-dependency inevitably results in our own self-destruction.

[Shana · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 5 star rating of this book is a bit biased as my family used to vacation from the NWT to West Edmonton Mall and it was such a big deal back in the day. Getting to go to West Ed and the childhood impression it has left on me is a big part of my growing up and this book mostly focuses on the authors experience growing up going there as well. Not to mention, I also now live in Alberta and am just a skip and a hop away from Edmonton.

This book will be a fun trip for anyone who has been to this mall but I also feel like this book will appeal to anyone who is intrigued by the "big mall" and stories of how, surrounded by Capitalism, they are also places of wildlife protests, murder, suicide, first jobs, first loves, trends and subcultures etc.

I love being surprised by a book and this book is definitely one I am happy I picked up!

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wouldn’t have finished this if I hadn’t lived in Edmonton around the same years as the author’s reminiscences. It was fun to read a different person’s experience of the giant mall we loved to hate, but I was expecting the book to offer a more structured historical or sociological examination of malls in general. Instead, this was 90% meandering and self-indulgent essays that tried too hard to be deep. (For example, in one chapter, Black almost touches on something insightful when she questions if flyover cities are driven to overcompensate with spectacle like mall dolphins or oversized roadside attractions… but then ends the reflection with “And who can’t relate? We are all mall dolphins; we are all malls.” …I’m sorry, what?)

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

veryyyy much enjoyed… learned lots ab the history of malls and the Darkness they have carried

i picked this up at my favorite local bookstore and saw the author signed it... i mostly bought bc i wanted to read ab the ethics of shopping/ retail(?) as a Shopping Girly with guilt ab shopping but i ended up learning so much more

i’m biased bc i feel close to the author since she lives in vancouver now but in general she is a great writing talent, honest and funny. it was an easy and interesting read ab not just WEM/ canadian malls but the anthropology of malls as a whole…

i recommend!