Rating: 
Summary: A Fascinating Analysis of Consumerism
Review: Alfred North Whitehead said that when one criticizes an epoch it is important to look, not at the commonly agreed upon, controversial issues, but at subjects which no one is discussing -- the aspects of life that everyone takes for granted. Daniel Harris does just that in this quirky, provocative book. He examines phenomena which are ubiquitous but unstudied, such as coolness, deliciousness, and cuteness. His book is full of original observations, but the one that I find most striking is the way in which advertisers of all products flatter their potential consumers with notion that they are daring individualists -- that buying a particular car, t-shirt, or coffee mug is somehow an empowering act of bold rebellion that sets one apart from the crowd. After reading this book I didn't flip through a magazine or watch television commercials the same way, and you won't either.
Rating: 
Summary: Less is more.
Review: Daniel Harris has delivered the ultimate post-postmodern internet book marketing triumph, keywords: hoisted, petard. Yes, there does exist an actual hard copy edition by this title which you can have delivered to your mailbox. But why would you bother paying for the frankly dreary "actual book" when the title; cover art; and sample pages available on the internet deliver considerably more bang for your bambi? Daniel Harris's tragedy is that he has outdone the more obscure theoreticians he so delights in superficially deriding. If it's way more fun to make fun of Lacan than to actually read him, where does that put Daniel Harris?
Rating:
Summary: Best Unknown Essayist Around
Review: Daniel Harris is that unusual essayist who writes about popular culture in an informative, unpretentious and humorous way. He doesn't spend all of his time trying to inflate the importance of the subjects of his essays to make himself seem more important. Instead, he just goes about selecting familiar yet unexamined niches of popular culture and reveals the ironies that turn up with wit and enthusiasm. These 10 essays on the aesthetics of consumerism may embarrass some readers when they show how we've been manipulated by corporate marketing, but, ultimately, one can't help but feel enlightened and thoroughly entertained by Harris' writing. As essays as good as these rarely appear in mainstream publications, I would recommend buying this book without hesitation.
Rating:
Summary: A gem of a book.
Review: Daniel Harris shoots from the hip with thought-provoking insights on the psychological craving for kitsch. This is not the usual mocking "grocery list" of tasteless objects. It is a probe into the causes of the craving. A must-read for anyone tracing the dehumanization of Man in the Twentieth Century.
Rating:
Summary: Cute, Quaint, & Hungry
Review: Daniel Harris shoots from the hip with thought-provoking insights on the psychological craving for kitsch. This is not the usual mocking "grocery list" of tasteless objects. It is a probe into the causes of the craving. A must-read for anyone tracing the dehumanization of Man in the Twentieth Century.
Rating: 
Summary: A Fascinating Failure
Review: Diatribes on conumerism are certainly nothing new, but Daniel Harris attempts to be more than, as he states, "simply a covert attack on the bad taste of the lower classes." Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work out that way. Much of the book is easily-gathered theories popular in anti-consumerist essays (Hey, did you know that most food ads don't have anything to do with hunger? Oh, you did? Ah well...) and when Hariis strays from simple ideas, he gets himself into a bind, countering with lots of gross generalizations (to Harris, it's completely inconceivable that someone might be collecting antiques due to a genuine interest in history, or that it's possible to enjoy the humor of "Airplane!" alone) that just sound like the rantings of someone who never got over being unpopular in high school. Sure, you could buy this book--it's not bad, it's quite densely written, and I finished it, albeit taking a grain of salt with every other page. To save money, however, you could simply type "You're a big phony because you fall into the trappings of consumerism" over and over for 270 pages and get the same effect. Douglas Rushkoff does this sort of thing better (and, god forbid, includes facts and research), and Kalle Lasn is full of himself, but at least he's optimistic. Harris reeks of nothing but bitterness.
Rating:
Summary: A Fascinating Failure
Review: Diatribes on conumerism are certainly nothing new, but Daniel Harris attempts to be more than, as he states, "simply a covert attack on the bad taste of the lower classes." Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work out that way. Much of the book is easily-gathered theories popular in anti-consumerist essays (Hey, did you know that most food ads don't have anything to do with hunger? Oh, you did? Ah well...) and when Hariis strays from simple ideas, he gets himself into a bind, countering with lots of gross generalizations (to Harris, it's completely inconceivable that someone might be collecting antiques due to a genuine interest in history, or that it's possible to enjoy the humor of "Airplane!" alone) that just sound like the rantings of someone who never got over being unpopular in high school. Sure, you could buy this book--it's not bad, it's quite densely written, and I finished it, albeit taking a grain of salt with every other page. To save money, however, you could simply type "You're a big phony because you fall into the trappings of consumerism" over and over for 270 pages and get the same effect. Douglas Rushkoff does this sort of thing better (and, god forbid, includes facts and research), and Kalle Lasn is full of himself, but at least he's optimistic. Harris reeks of nothing but bitterness.
Rating:
Summary: A bit wordy (but not preachy) analyzation of pop consumerism
Review: Harris explains that he has no new ideas to fight consumerism or how to develop an acceptable aesthetic, but this book offers a new voice to current aestheticism, trends and pop-culture. If you want to find out why people like what they like, Harris gives bare minimum facts and allows you to draw your own conclusions, which was well received. For independent thinkers!
Rating:
Summary: A gem of a book.
Review: I've read a ton of texts about "consumer culture" and this is by far one of the best. What's most intruiging about its arguments is that Harris is willing to explore how the culture is appealing, plausible, seductive, rather than just hideous kitsch that the sweaty masses--for reasons obscure--tend to enjoy. Harris is brilliantly insightful, tactful, persuasive.
Rating:
Summary: A gem of a book.
Review: I've read a ton of texts about "consumer culture" and this is by far one of the best. What's most intruiging about its arguments is that Harris is willing to explore how the culture is appealing, plausible, seductive, rather than just hideous kitsch that the sweaty masses--for reasons obscure--tend to enjoy. Harris is brilliantly insightful, tactful, persuasive.
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