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Synopsis
Consider this paradox: Ecologists estimate that it would take three planets Earth to provide an American standard of living to the entire world. Yet it is that standard of living to which the whole world aspires.In Consuming Desires, award-winning writer and social commentator Roger Rosenblatt brings together a brilliant collection of thinkers and writers to shed light on the triumphs and tragedies of that disturbing paradox. The book represents a captivating salon, offering a rich and varied dialogue on the underlying roots of consumer culture and its pervasive impact on ourselves and the world around us. Each author offers a unique perspective, their layers of thoughts and insights building together to create a striking, multifaceted picture of our society and culture.Jane Smiley probes the roots of consumerism in the emancipation of women from household drudgery afforded by labor-saving devices and technological innovation; Alex Kotlowitz describes the mutual reinforcement of fashion trends as poor inner-city kids and rich suburban kids strive to imitate each other; Bill McKibben discusses the significance, and the irony, of defining yourself not by what you buy, but by what you don't buy.The essays range widely, but two ideas are central to nearly all of them: that consumption is driven by yearning and desire -- often unspoken, seemingly insatiable -- and that what prevents us from keeping our consumptive impulse in check is the western concept of self, the solitary and restless self, entitled to all it can pay for.As Rosenblatt explains in his insightful introduction: "Individualism and desire are what makes us great and what makes us small. Freedom is our dream and our enemy. The essays touch on these paradoxes, and while all are too nuanced and graceful to preach easy reform, they give an idea of what reform means, where it is possible, and, in some cases, where it may not be as desirable as it appears."
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Review
This collection of essays by an all-star roster of social critics takes a skeptical look at American and global capitalism on the eve of the 21st century. Some of the contributors, such as William Greider, are downright pessimistic: "If the world is to save itself from ecological disaster, the redemption cannot begin among the poor," he writes. "Only the wealthy few--that is, nations such as ours--have the power and the wherewithal to rescue us all from the impending consequences of mass consumption on a global scale." Most of the other essayists treat mass consumption as a mixed bag. Novelist Jane Smiley, for instance, notes that consumerism fed feminism by inventing appliances, phones, and cars--and freed women from domestic chores. "There is much talk of the emptiness of modern life, but think of emptying chamber pots of the accumulated waste products of seven or eight household members every day for the rest of your life," she writes. These pages are full of good writing and smart observations. Bill McKibben, for example, suggests that "instead of defining ourselves by what we buy, we define ourselves by what we throw away." Other contributors include Alex Kotlowitz, Edward Luttwak, and Juliet Schor, as well as editor Roger Rosenblatt. All told, Consuming Desires is an eclectic mix of thought-provoking essays on the culture of materialism. --John J. Miller
From Kirkus Reviews
A learned assault on the present global addiction to things. PBS and Time magazine essayist Rosenblatt (Coming Apart: America and the Harvard Riots of 1969, A Memoir, 1997, etc.) assembles a stellar cast of contributors to argue against consumerism, the credo exemplified by the obnoxious bumper sticker He who dies with the most toys wins. Some of those contributors offer paeans to disappearing virtues, such as thrift and modesty; others tender modest and immodest proposals to reduce our desire for material goods, which Rosenblatt gently calls a strange basis for a civilization, but an effective one. In his introduction, Rosenblatt recognizes that he and his colleagues are swimming against the tide. After all, he notes, something like 90 percent of the American workforce is now engaged in making and selling consumer goods and services, from cheeseburgers to computers; and nearly everyone is behaving as if we had all suddenly come into Jay Gatsbys wealth, a point that Harvard-based social critic Juliet Schor underscores when she remarks, The new consumerism is . . . less socially benign than the old regime of keeping up with the Joneses, less benign because it is both more conspicuous and more closely bound with our notion of who we are, our things having come to serve as markers of social class and self-esteem alike. The essays included in this volume are of universally high quality, and there are some real standouts: William Greider examines our unwillingness to reduce waste and the forces at work against offering high-quality, durable, and affordable goods to all segments of society; Edward Luttwak ponders the new face of American indebtedness, which now, he says, has reached the unprecedented level of 89 percent of total household income; Stephanie Mills considers the moral dimensions of excessive consumption in a time of extinction and biological crisis. Good stuff, this, offering fuel for an environmentalists fire, and likely to give marketing specialists a headache. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherIsland Press
- Publication date2006
- ISBN 10 1597260894
- ISBN 13 9781597260893
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages240
- EditorRosenblatt Roger
- Rating
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