Customer Reviews

Mall of America: Reflections of a Virtual Community

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's not often that a piece of nonfiction sets me to pondering at the same time it entertains and instructs, but that's the nature of this wondrous book on Minnesota's mall of malls. Eric Nelson is a magician here, conjuring up surprises -- sparkling background tidbits connected tightly or loosely to this giant shopping community -- before our very eyes. Carefully researched, thoughtfully linked to issues important to our consumerist culture, sprinkled with astute sketches of people who spend or make their money at the mall, this book helps make sense of why this overwhelming midwestern biosphere became an overwhelming success.

This book is more than a description of the Mall of America, more than an analysis of economics or a sociological treatise. It's all of these, with excursions into history, philosophy, and theology; interviews with people both "normal" and quirky; and amusing nuggets of observation about things as diverse as superheroes and buying clothing for your wife.

For example, one chapter, "The Whirlwind," begins with quotes from Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Book of Job. It moves through our attempts to control the weather (knots tied by Shetland Island fishermen, the Weather Modification Advisory Board), and touches on both George Washington and the Donner Party, arriving finally at Minnesota weather and the reason for Malls. The chapter ends with the story of the eccentric entrepreneur behind the Rainforest Cafe: "For the time being, Steve Schussler, who studied Darwin in the school of hard knocks, has found a niche in its neon jungle."

On a trip to the Mall with Eric Nelson be prepared for unexpected encounters and surprising insights. You'll return home entertained and satisfied.

We're all part of one big happy consumer family - but as with most families, it's usually hard to figure out what's going on. This savvy book about the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., the biggest of 'em all, takes a sharp look at how consumerism on a grand scale functions, and how we are all sucked into it one way or another. Whether he's casting a whimsical look at an icon like Snoopy, observing a day in a mall-style classroom, joining in a therapeutic shopping trip with a group of suburban women, or wittily cataloging the sensory overload of it all, Eric Nelson is a great consumer family counselor. You'll never go to a mall again without noticing new details of the strange and wonderful shopping binge we are all on. It's a fun read, and a wise one.

This book uses the Mall of America (located in Minnesota, it is our nation's largest) as a cultural thermometre. Now as academic as that sounds, Eric Nelson manages to give the book a delightful (and disarming) sense of humor.

This was an attempt at being clever. It provided many colorful examples of the things most urban dwellers come to realize by age 10. Packed full of common sense observations that could enlighten only the typical unaware suburban consumer.

I believe this book was an effort by the author (likely a typical suburban consumer) to share a recent personal discovery, US Econimic Policy = Careless Consumerism.

Though I am certain that the author was entertained, as clever as this book was written; with its lack meaningful insight, it makes better fiction that anything.