Point of Purchase

<p>This accessible, smart, and expansive book on shopping''s impact on American life is in part historical, stretching back to the mid-19th century, yet also has a contemporary focus, with material on recent trends in shopping from the internet to Zagat''s guides.<br><br>Drawing inspiration from both Pierre Bourdieu''s work and Walter Benjamin''s seminal essay on the shopping arcades of 19th-century Paris, Zukin explores the forces that have made shopping so central to our lives: the rise of consumer culture, the never-ending quest for better value, and shopping''s ability to help us improve our social status and attain new social identities.</p>