One Nation under Goods: Malls and the Seductions of American Shopping

by James J. Farrell

Loved and hated, visited and avoided, seemingly everywhere yet endlessly the same, malls occupy a special place in American life. What, then, is this invention that evokes such strong and contradictory emotions in Americans? In many ways malls represent the apotheosis of American consumerism, and this synthetic and wide-ranging investigation is an eye-popping tour of American culture's values and beliefs. Like your favorite mall, One Nation under Goods is a browser's paradise, and in order to understand America's culture of consumption you need to make a trip to the mall with Farrell. This lively, fast-paced history of the hidden secrets of the shopping mall explains how retail designers make shopping and goods “irresistible.” Architects, chain stores, and mall owners relax and beguile us into shopping through water fountains, ficus trees, mirrors, and covert security cameras. From food courts and fountains to Santa and security, Farrell explains how malls control their patrons and convince us that shopping is always an enjoyable activity. And most importantly, One Nation Under Goods shows why the mall's ultimate promise of happiness through consumption is largely an illusion. It's all here—for one low price, of course.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Hardcover

First published September 17, 2003

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

Consumer psychology interests me but this was boring. Very dry and very dated. (Seems like it was written in the 80s instead of early 2000s) Also had a lot of random tangents that had nothing to do with consumerism or were a stretch. There were a few interesting tidbits here and there but I quit halfway through.

[Nanaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was not as good as I thought it would be. It felt a bit dated. It was a bit repetitive and dry. I felt like it was a good book for university level teaching. I am still glad that I read it though. You will learn something about greed, consumerism, psychology, and shopping.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good look at many aspects of American shopping malls, though now a bit dated (2003) given how many traditional shopping malls are declining (no talk of "dead malls," though there's a little about mall reuse). Recommended for anyone into books about consumerism and retail history.

[J.J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

The information in this book was interesting and made it worth reading, but it was written very dryly. It definitely lets one reflect on how consumer oriented our society is, though.

[Harrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was really useful for my research on shopping malls. Well-organized, panoramic, and interesting; there aren't too many in depth studies of shopping malls.