Description

The authors examine the people, ideas, products, institutions, and trends that they believe make contemporary life frustrating, artificial, or overly commercialized. The book is intentionally provocative and uses sarcasm, exaggeration, humor, and criticism rather than a conventional academic style.

Key ideas

• Consumerism: criticism of brands, advertising, shopping habits, and consumer capitalism.
• Popular culture: discussion of entertainment, music, fashion, celebrities, and lifestyle trends.
• Modern lifestyles: criticism of fashionable social behaviors and contemporary habits.
• Politics and society: humorous attacks on political and social institutions.
• Everyday frustrations: ordinary aspects of modern life are examined from a deliberately negative and comic perspective.
• Commercialization: the authors question how commercial interests increasingly influence everyday life.