Consumerism As a Way of Life

`Miles's study [is] an important contribution to our understanding of the contemporary human condition.... the value of the book is in its character of a well-informed and informative, not unduly partisan, comprehensive "state of the art" survey of topics and issues raised and discussed by the researchers and analysts of life in the society of consumers. Students and researchers alike will find it useful as a reference book and an excellent starting point for their own exploration. But "ordinary consumers" could gain as well from pursuing Miles's study. They would learn a lot about the springs that set them in motion while staying themselves in hiding. Combining these two characteristics (and so two uses and two circles of readership) is what all sociological books strive to achieve, but not many do' - Zygmunt Bauman