I Want That!: How We All Became Shoppers [Paperback]

Thomas Hine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 2003

Shopping has a lot in common with sex.
Just about everybody does it.
Some people brag about how well they do it.
Some keep it a secret.
And both provide ample opportunities
to make foolish choices.

Choosing and using objects is a primal human activity, and I Want That! is nothing less than a portrait of humanity as the species that shops. It explores the history of acquisition -- finding, choosing, spending -- from our amber-coveting Neolithic forebears to Renaissance nobles who outfitted themselves for power to twenty-first-century bargain hunters looking for a good buy on eBay. I Want That! explores the minds of shoppers in the quest to nourish and feed fantasies, to define individuality, to provide for family, and to satisfy the needs for celebration, power, and choice -- all of which lead us to malls, boutiques, websites, and superstores.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From the Mall of America to e-commerce, it seems shopping is more than a casual activity for most Americans. Although some believe that the rise of advertising and strip malls have fostered slavish devotion to shopping where it didn't exist before, Hine posits that the acquisition of objects has a firm place in humanity's history. A columnist for Philadelphia magazine and the cultural critic who coined the term "populuxe," Hine offers fresh insight into why we shop and how we are in some ways born to do so. Throughout recorded time, he states, shopping has allowed people to show their position in society and to gain a sense of personal control over their surroundings. Given shopping's rich and enduring history, it makes sense that people in the developed world now have such a preponderance of products to buy, and that they're marketed to appeal not to our needs but our desire for acceptance, attractiveness and power. Hine is a jaunty writer who breaks down an unwieldy topic into a thoughtful cultural riff. Although he touches on shopping's psychological effects (especially with those who seem addicted to it), Hine mainly refrains from assigning a positive or negative judgment. Instead, he delivers a balanced and entertaining analysis of how we arrived at our shopping-drenched state, and what those ringing cash registers really say about us. Photos.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Philadelphia columnist Hine considers why we buy what we buy. With a six-city author tour.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 222 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (October 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060959835
• ISBN-13: 978-0060959838
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,059,561 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thomas Hine writes about American culture, history and design. His six books have dealt with such phenomena as product packaging, teenagers, fashion, interior design, and shopping. He has also contributed chapters to more than a dozen other books and exhibition catalogs, and served as multimedia editor of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. He was architecture and design critic of the Philadelphia Inquirer for 23 years, ending in 1996. He has also served as a guest curator or consultant to museum exhibitions in Miami, Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and elsewhere.

He got the inspiration for his first book "Populuxe: the Look and Life of Midcentury American" in 1978 when he visited Saudi Arabia as a Ford Foundation fellow. There he noticed that the Saudis" new houses incorporated many features of the exuberant, celebratory style of the America of his childhood. John Updike praised "Populuxe" as evidence of "a mischievously alert sensibility." His most recent book, "The Great Funk" (2007) is a sequel to "Populuxe," which chronicles the upsetting, and often liberating, collapse of America's post-World War II mentality.

Hine was born in Boston, grew up in Connecticut, and graduated from Yale. He has lived in Philadelphia since 1970.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too much and yet not enough, February 13, 2003

By 

Dr Cathy Goodwin (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I Want That!: How We All Became Shoppers (Hardcover)

I really wanted to like this book. The reviews were glowing and, as a former marketing professor, I was more than a little interested.

I Want That is a birds eye view of shopping, with pages devoted to everything from gift giving to mall design to deviant buying behavior. There's a history of shopping and a sociology of shopping. Each chapter -- and some of the headings -- could be the topic of a doctoral dissertation. Brevity in this case has become misleading and, frankly,
not very exciting. All the juicy stuff has been edited out!

For example, Hine devotes just a few pages to compulsive buying, yet there has been considerable research on this topic by marketing researchers as well as clinical psychologists. There are correlations with other forms of addiction, while Hine notes only gambling. There are degrees of compulsion that vary by person and situation.

The chapter on attention emphasizes that shoppers can judge without being judged. Hine suggests that friends who join the shopper may be judgmental, implying that friends decrease shopping; however, research shows that people who shop together buy more.

The author cites research that suggests people continue to follow traditional gender roles. The real story is the change. In fact, some observers believe retailing has been transformed by gender roles more than by any other factor. Why do stores stay open 24/7? Why do more teens do the family shopping these days? What about men who are self-described clothes horses? And while women still buy most Christmas gifts, we need too recognize the increasing numbers of single-person households and families who choose to spend Christmas on a cruise.

Anyone who says, "Wow -- a book on shopping! What a great idea!" will probably enjoy this book. Those who are aware of other books on the topic, offering greater depth and insight, will be dissatisfied. This book lacks the focus, depth and analytical underpinnings of Paco Underhill's Why We Buy and Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point. And I wish the author had looked at some research published in journals, not just a selection of books.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Treating our addiction (with a light and thoughtful touch), December 11, 2002

By 

Inquiring Mind (Brookline, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Want That!: How We All Became Shoppers (Hardcover)

Rarely does one happen upon a sociological and economic analysis that is truly fun to read, as hard to put down as a good mystery, amusing, insightful. That is what is so amazing about I Want That. It is anthropology, and a sound analyis of why two-legged creatures have wanted to acquire since time when, and it is a real joy to read.

From the author's creation of the concept of 'buyosphere' onward (and this is the same observer who created the so-Fifties and so descriptive term for that era, Populuxe), you have to sit back and enjoy his perceptive analysis of our behavior and our culture. Read it as entertainment, read it as cultural introspection. Either way, it is illuminating, thoughtful - and fun.

More than worthwhile for the buying season - and after.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lot in one small package..., August 13, 2003

By 

B. Pomeroy "bpomeroy54" (Sewell, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I Want That!: How We All Became Shoppers (Hardcover)

Thomas Hine's writing reveals a unique blend of history, marketing and pop culture savvy. Of course, anyone familiar with "Populuxe," his groundbreaking view of consumerism in the 1950's and early '60's, knows this full well.

"I Want That!" continues in that vein. Immensely readable, the book chronicles the history of shopping and consumer behavior, examining *why* humans have liked to shop over the centuries. Taking us as far back as the ancient Egyptians, Hine illustrates how politics, technology, transportation, geography and even religion have shaped our relationship with consumables and our methods of acquiring them. Even those of us who like to shop regard it as a rather mundane experience most of the time, but Hine shows how complex and significant the act of shopping truly is.