Living It Up: OurLove Affair With Luxury
by Twitchell, James B
- Used
- Near Fine
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/Near Fine
- Seller
-
Middlebury, Vermont, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Columbia University, 2002. 1st. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. 309 pages. Illustrated with numerous b/w plates. Red endpapers. Red boards and spine, gilt lettering on spine. Near Fine. Color pictorial dust jacket. Record # 803602
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
- Monroe Street Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 803602
- Title
- Living It Up: OurLove Affair With Luxury
- Author
- Twitchell, James B
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Near Fine
- Edition
- 1st
- Publisher
- Columbia University
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 2002
- Keywords
- Social Sciences & Studies, Sociology, 1st, , .
Terms of Sale
Monroe Street Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Monroe Street Books
Biblio member since 2006
Middlebury, Vermont
About Monroe Street Books
Monroe Street Books is Vermont's largest used book store. Open 7 days a week. Over 100,000 books in store. Additional 50,000 online.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
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