- Paperback: 191 pages
- Publisher: Crown Publications; 1 edition (Jan 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0517886685
- ISBN-13: 978-0517886687
- Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 13 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,358,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
From kitschy novelties and wildly unappetizing food products to beautifully functional items such as garlic presses and toothpick dispensers, Inconspicuous Consumption is a delightful celebration of the sometimes elegant, sometimes ridiculous fringes of our late-20th-century culture. 50 photos. 192 pp. Author interviews & national radio campaign. National publicity. 15,000 print.
From the Author
Minutiae fetishism for consumer obsessives
Inconspicuous Consumption is about paying attention to the details of consumer culture -- details that are either so obscure that we don't see them or so ubiquitous that we've essentially *stopped* seeing them. There's a bonanza of interesting products out there -- some strange, many exceedingly ordinary, but all worthy of closer inspection. The classic example is the Brannock Device, that fantastic gizmo they use to measure your shoe size. This product is classically inconspicuous -- everyone knows what it is, nobody knows what it's called, and most people, when asked about it, say, "Oh, that thing -- it's really cool, I just never thought about it before." Providing this sort of revelation is the essence of Inconspicuous Consumption.
Inconspicuous Consumption is about paying attention to the details of consumer culture -- details that are either so obscure that we don't see them or so ubiquitous that we've essentially *stopped* seeing them. There's a bonanza of interesting products out there -- some strange, many exceedingly ordinary, but all worthy of closer inspection. The classic example is the Brannock Device, that fantastic gizmo they use to measure your shoe size. This product is classically inconspicuous -- everyone knows what it is, nobody knows what it's called, and most people, when asked about it, say, "Oh, that thing -- it's really cool, I just never thought about it before." Providing this sort of revelation is the essence of Inconspicuous Consumption.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
I always wondered if I was the only person in the world who was blown away by products like "Armour Pork Brains in Milk Gravy". Paul Lukas has proven that a) I'm not alone and b) if I was more talented I could have made money writing a book about bizarre products. My only complaint about this book was that it ended. I was ready for hundreds of more examples, particularly the weird foods.
Format:Paperback
As Sigue Sigue Sputnik so weirdly proved back in the '80s, _anything_ can be a product (even a rock band). This well-written, researched and hilarious book takes us from Thirst and Musk LifeSavers (a favorite in the former penal colony known as Australia) to microwave pork rinds and the smoker's robot (read to believe). The perfect read-to-your-friend-in-the-car-while-roadtripping book!
Format:Paperback
Paul has a talent for looking twice at products we usually take for granted. It's the "how did we ever miss this?" attitude he takes that makes his book and writing so fun -- he's got a great wit and eye for the absurd in everyday life. After reading his book (and his zine, Beer Frame), I've never been able to go to the supermarket in the same way again.
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