The Culture of Consumption: Critical Essays in American History 1880-1980

by Richard Wightman Fox (Editor), T.J. Jackson Lears (Editor)

What is consumer culture and what effects has it had on other facets of American life? These are but two of the provocative questions raised in The Culture of Consumption, a group of six essays exploring the effects of our consumer society on America's literature, journalism, advertising, politics, and science.

In The Culture of Consumption six talented young historians set out to illuminate the nature of American consumption - how Americans decide what they buy, how consumer values are shaped, and what the links are between America's materialism and her evolving self-image.

Genres: History

237 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Richard Wightman Fox is a professor of history at the University of Southern California and the author of Jesus in America and Trials of Intimacy, among other books. He lives in Venice, California.

Reviews

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Individual essay ratings: 4.5, 4, 1, 3, 5, 4
High highs, and low lows. Just a good amount of filler from all six writers. But, boiled down, the information was well worth the read. Especially the 5th essay, "Politics as Consumption: Managing the Modern American Election."

[Jon]

Mostly very interesting collection of essays by historians about consumerism, including pieces about James' THE GOLDEN BOWL, the space program, popular magazines, and Robert Lynd's sociological study MIDDLETOWN. Some of the academic jargon gets a bit hard to take but it's worth wading through for the insights and information found herein.

[Julian Pritchard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was cool, some of it was kind of boring. A lot of it talks about Henry Luce's famous celebration of the American Century, the work of Edward Bernays and Walter Lippmann in shaping public consciousness, and the history of advertising and capitalism in general.