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.
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
There's something a little sad about the fact that shopping has become the Western world's favorite leisure activity, but I guess if we're trapped in a post-capitalist consumer society the best we can do is follow Paul Lukas's advice and treat the corporate wastelands of our industrial decline as playgrounds and art galleries beyond the scope of shrinking government entitlements and endowments. In Inconspicuous Consumption the fetish value of the obscure and bizarre products that occupy the back shelves of supermarkets is explored in loving detail. If you wish to know the pleasures of sauerkraut juice, toothpick dispensers, and adhesive nipple covers then this collection of articles from the zine Beer Frame should be your Baedeker to the land of ironic shopping.
From School Library Journal
YA. A short, enjoyable book that will have teens reading chunks aloud to their friends. Its premise is that we take many interesting/bizarre/obscure commercial products for granted and don't even notice their presence. Lukas offers a page or two of his takes on 105 of them, as well as the amusing results of his efforts to learn more from the manufacturers (the addresses of all of which are given in the back). The author has a true eye for kitsch and writes in a breezy, humorous style. Did you know that the gizmo used to measure your shoe size is called a Brannock device? Ever considered using an Etch-a-Sketch to write an untraceable ransom note? Familiar with the concept of bottled water for cats and dogs? A fun read?be forewarned, though, that there appears the occasional obscenity used as an adjective.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book is awesome,
By A Customer
This review is from: Inconspicuous Consumption: An Obsessive Look at the Stuff We Take for Granted, from the Everyday to the Obscure (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
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book is a godsend.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Inconspicuous Consumption: An Obsessive Look at the Stuff We Take for Granted, from the Everyday to the Obscure (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.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is the ultimate product!
Bryan Allison,
By A Customer
This review is from: Inconspicuous Consumption: An Obsessive Look at the Stuff We Take for Granted, from the Everyday to the Obscure (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
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