Consumer culture /

Lury's book is not just another study of consumer behavior. Following the tradition of Mary Douglas and Baron Isherwood's The World of Goods (CH, Feb'80) in Britain and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Eugene Rochberg-Halton's The Meaning of Things (CH, Apr'82) in the US, it explores consumption as both cultural and economic process in Euramerican societies. Some influence from Arjun Appadurai's The Social Life of Things (1986) can be seen. Lury's language is reflexive in style, with a postmodern flair. The book offers a fresh look at the contributions of various perspectives to standards of ethics and aesthetics, as well as to the politics of consumption. The process of consumption is seen as a self-assembly that provides the context for shaping and being shaped by group membership. Nicely selected photographs enhance the text. The bibliography is standard and draws heavily on the British contribution to the meaning of cultural items. An excellent addition to the literature on identity and its relationship to meaning and to cultural goods. Graduate, faculty. Y. Peterson Saint Xavier University