Living It Up : America's Love Affair with Luxury
by Twitchell, James B
- Used
- Fine
- Condition
- Fine
- ISBN 10
- 0743245067
- ISBN 13
- 9780743245067
- Seller
-
Tokyo, Japan
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Simon & Schuster, 2003. Fine. Ah, the evils of luxury. Spending for its own sake, accumulating unnecessar y "stuff," the need to own for status, the trophy car, the trophy home, des igner everything. But here's the conundrum: what is considered luxury for o ne generation is considered necessity for the next, and today's credit-addi cted society makes luxury, or at least the appearance of luxury, available to all. Who better to sort the whole thing out than Twitchell, one of Newsw eek 's "100 Cultural Elite." He has some interesting tidbits about what has been considered opulent in the past, and he has coined a new term for thos e universally craved name-brand objects--opuluxe. It's image above substanc e--think Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Montblanc, Nike, Evian, and Starbucks. But is the desire for high-end junk as wasteful and garish as it seemed when it w as available to only the few? Twitchell makes the case for a mild defense o f luxury in that its mass consumption ultimately lifts up the masses econom ically.
Synopsis
Luxury isn't just for the rich, says James B. Twitchell. Today you don't need a six-figure income to wear pashmina, drink a limited-edition coffee at Starbucks, or drive a Mercedes home to collapse on the couch in front of a flat-screen plasma TV. In Living It Up, sharp-eyed consumer anthropologist Twitchell takes a witty and insightful look at luxury -- what it is, who defines it, and why we can't seem to get enough of it. In recent years, says Twitchell, luxury spending has grown much faster than overall spending -- and it continues to grow despite the economic recession. Luxury has become such a powerful marketing force that it cuts across every layer of society, spawning a magazine devoted to spas, cashmere bedspreads on sale at Kmart, and a dazzling array of bottled waters. Twitchell says that the democratization of luxury has had a unifying effect on culture. Luxury items tell a story that we want to identify with, and more people than ever aspire to the story of Ralph Lauren's Polo or Patek Philippe. Shopping itself is no longer a chore but a transcendent experience in which we shop not so much for goods as for an identity. Sharply observed and wickedly funny, Living It Up is a revealing and entertaining examination of why we are all part of the cult of luxury.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Infinity Books Japan
(JP)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- RWARE0000009423
- Title
- Living It Up : America's Love Affair with Luxury
- Author
- Twitchell, James B
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Trade paperback
- ISBN 10
- 0743245067
- ISBN 13
- 9780743245067
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster
- Place of Publication
- New York, Ny
- Date Published
- 2003
- Bookseller catalogs
- General Non-Fiction;
Terms of Sale
Infinity Books Japan
We return books after seven days, if the customer is not 100% happy with our transaction.
About the Seller
Infinity Books Japan
Biblio member since 2006
Tokyo
About Infinity Books Japan
Infinity Books Japan,was founded in the year 2002, we pride ourselves in being there for our customers, we deal in, used, rare, out of print and first editions.
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