Rating: 
Summary: Classic Science Fiction / Classic Satire
Review: In the early 1950s, Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth looked at the USA and extrapolated to a world run by advertising hucksters: an overpopulated, polluted world where production was the handmaiden of marketing, and privacy an impossible dream. This satiric _reductio ad finem_ (extrapolation to an extreme) predicted our world with an accuracy highly unusual for SF. And Pohl and Kornbluth gave a diagnosis of how this disaster could happen, and suggestions for a radical conservation movement that might bring a cure: positive elements rare in satire. _The Space Merchants_ belongs not only with the best of SF but among the finest works of satire, from Aristophanes through Chaucer to Shakespeare's _Troilus and Cressida_ to Swift's _Gulliver_ and beyond. ( )
Rating: 
Summary: good story, much insight, some confusion
Review: In the future, instead of the two-party monopoly, there is a two-COMPANY monopoly. Instead of 95% of citizens/consumers voting for either a Democrat or Republican, they either buy only Starzellius products or only Tauton products.The quality of life has deteriorated to the extent that it is worse for the rich and powerful executives of these two companies than for a middle class person today. Most people rarely get real meat or cheese. Most people can't afford cars. People are guilty until proven innocent. The whole point of the book is to demonstrate how bad life could become if businesses had more power than government. However, the book never explains how life became that bad. Nor does it explain why these things wouldn't happen even sooner if government had more power than businesses. Remember, this book was written in 1952, which was before the authors would have known that the unbearable future they foresaw after 200 years at the hands of businesses was already a reality in Communist countries. Nevertheless, it is a very good and humorous story about what the future could hold if too much power were in the hands of too few.
Rating:
Summary: "Absolute power ennobles absolutely"
Review: It's a shame that a book this good is available only in a crummy paperbound edition with cheesy, generic cover art. The Space Merchants deserves to be read by all aficionados of the genre, being one of the true classics. The authors collaborated on several other works, but this one is the first and most well known. Since Kornblouth in particular was a great admirer of George Orwell, its no coincidence that links can be drawn between this dystopian novel and 1984. Both are anti-establishment, both intense and well written, and both have their share of knockout lines and phrases. In this future world capitalism acts as an enslaver of the underclass, and the driving force in our protagonist's life is his job selling his firm's products to the masses. His personality and his job have put him on bad terms with his wife, but that is the least of his problems after his identity is stolen and he becomes a slave of the system he helped build, forced to be, part migrant worker and part indentured servant. Although the political aspects of the novel are important, don't forget that really, the Space Merchants is a humorous book in addition to being a work of science fiction. It's just brisling with irony, and because of this, it is a fun read as Mitch takes a darkly comedic ride from the very top to the very bottom and tries to get back on top again. In conclusion, buy this novel, even in this lousy edition, and then repurchase it in hardcover. It's worth the effort.
Rating:
Summary: Undercooled humorous, well-written, over the top, a bit scar
Review: Not available in print? Both me and my partner have a copy, in Dutch, for over 20 years. It is a shame indeed that it is not available at Amazon or any shop. This book is the perfect warning for what can happen when the marketing boys and girls can do to our world if we let them. If you hate McD's burgers, CC's or P's cola, MS's monopolistic world domination strategy and so on, you should read this book, because you will like it. If you don't hate those things and don't understand why I do, you really really should read this book and try to understand the difference between marketing and information. It is pityful enough that lots of things in this book are reality nowadays. People are addicted to hamburgers, cola, cigarettes, medicines, television, coffee, beer, and so on. People do accept the most stupid advertisements between and in television shows, in movies, on buses and everywhere else in real life. It is astounding how many people seem to believe all of the things that are said, shown or otherwise transfered in commercials and advertisements. In the book, the marketing people are very happy with the decrease in average intelligence of the world population. When I look around, I am afraid that indeed the average intelligence of the masses is dropping. Fortunately, the world is not owned by marketing companies. Unfortunately, the companies that do own the world are not that concerned with our well-being either. Read this book about the top manager of the largest marketing firm of the world who gets the biggest project he ever had, looses grip, faces reality, realises what effect his work has caused and who is able to fight back to the top, ignoring everything he just learned. The end is a wonderful anti-climax. The world is saved, but not just yet. Actually, I would have expected a follow-up, in which the marketing-free world of Venus to come will free the dummy-filled marketing-laden Earth.
Rating:
Summary: No question, one of the great Sci-fi classics
Review: One of the more frustrating things about Science fiction is the way that many of the premier titles in the genre go out of print and remain unavailable for long periods of time. It would be really great to see a couple of publishing houses attempt to keep some of the greater Sci-fi novels from the past in print. THE SPACE MERCHANTS is remarkable for the way it combines advertising, corporate culture (especially relevant today with the Enron and Worldcom scandals), and reflections on ways it might be possible to exploit the solar system economically in the future. Like the best of Sci-fi, it presents a plausible vision of the future that seems equally to life today, while also managing a great plot. The ending (which, of course, I cannot describe without giving too much away) is one of my favorites in all of Sci-fi. The book feels like it was written much more recently than 1952. Definitely worth seeking out.
Rating:
Summary: No question, one of the great Sci-fi classics
Review: One of the more frustrating things about Science fiction is the way that many of the premier titles in the genre go out of print and remain unavailable for long periods of time. It would be really great to see a couple of publishing houses attempt to keep some of the greater Sci-fi novels from the past in print. THE SPACE MERCHANTS is remarkable for the way it combines advertising, corporate culture (especially relevant today with the Enron and Worldcom scandals), and reflections on ways it might be possible to exploit the solar system economically in the future. Like the best of Sci-fi, it presents a plausible vision of the future that seems equally to life today, while also managing a great plot. The ending (which, of course, I cannot describe without giving too much away) is one of my favorites in all of Sci-fi. The book feels like it was written much more recently than 1952. Definitely worth seeking out.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent satire
Review: Paints a vision of the future where advertising companies and corporations have pretty much taken control of the world and presents the serious implications of such a future. At the same time, its wry humor and engaging plot made it a really enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: Why on Earth is this out of print.
Review: Pohl and Kornbluth deliver us savage satire on the advertising industry. With an entertaining story on top.
Rating:
Summary: A master's work
Review: Short and to the point in the story, (no 600 pages monster to read) shows very little ageing. A greate read.
Rating:
Summary: a mix of Huxley and Dick ...
Review: The Space Merchants is an interesting little science fiction novel which describes the world in the 23rd century. By then global capitalism, especially the top advertisers, almost literally rule the plant. Excessive population and pollution have driven the masses underground. People are nourished by the flesh of weird genetically modified beasts. Considering this book was written fifty years ago I found the subject matter surprisingly fresh and relevant. The story involves a top ad man who finds his task of developing a campaign for the colonisation of Venus dramatically undermined by dark forces. In this complex stew of industrial espionage are competing ad companies and the underground conservationist guerillas. The mystery moves along at a good clip although it sputters a bit towards the end. Overall this book touches some deep issues along the lines of Aldous ('Brave New World') Huxley, and has a satiric (and weird) feel like the works of Philip K. ('Ubik') Dick. Certainly a minor classic in its own right.
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