Lead Us Into Temptation (Hardcover)

by Professor James B. Twitchell (Author) "OF all the "-isms" of the twentieth century none has been more misunderstood, more criticized, and more important than materialism..." (more)
Key Phrases: mallcondo culture, branded objects, subliminal seduction, New York, Ralph Lauren, Enough Talk (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Is consumerism a spiritual dead end? Isn't it true that mere things can never make us happy? Why, no, says James B. Twitchell, in a sequel of sorts to his popular Adcult USA. We are what we buy, says Twitchell, and we like what we buy. After food and shelter, the next step in the needs hierarchy is self-actualization--and in contemporary society, what better way to self-actualize than to co-opt the mojo of recognizable name brands? The semiotics of purchase are important, he argues: durable goods make us comfortable, provide us with a sense of security in an age when religion no longer works the way it was designed to. The new high priests are celebrities who hawk basketball shoes, cars, telecommunications infrastructures, Carnival cruises, cosmetics, nicotine patches, and medications. Shopping, in this sense, may even be the ultimate act of self-identification with the divine principle. Radical though it may be, the hypothesis of Lead Us into Temptation is strongly supported by the evidence. Never before has the science of selling been so well understood, the market's ability to measure consumer satisfaction so complete. Read Twitchell and weep--or better yet, go shopping. --Patrizia DiLucchio

From Publishers Weekly
Chronicling America's increasing absorption in materialism, "the most shallow of the twentieth-century's various isms," Twitchell (Adcult) examines the cycle of conspicuous consumption. Comparing the influence of contemporary marketing and advertising to that of the Renaissance-era Catholic church, Twitchell, who is a professor of English at the University of Florida, contends that both "sell peace of mind either in this world or the next." He finds celebrity spokespersons such as Michael Jordan "priests" of marketing, the subject of "hagiography" in television commercials that are "an almost perfect mimic of religious parable[s]," which pay for sitcoms that instruct Americans in "how branded objects are dovetailed together to form a coherent pattern of selfhood, a lifestyle." Twitchell runs out of steam (and metaphors) halfway through the book as he discusses the evolution of branding and how shopping has become integral to the construction of the modern self, charging that infomercials and home shopping networks are the ultimate conspiracy, with their one-sided, two-dimensional falsely "interactive" setup. Though illuminated by some bright ideas, Twitchell's academese and arch stance make for some strained arguments. (June) FYI: This is the final volume in the nonfiction trilogy that began with Carnival Culture: The Trashing of Taste in America and Adcult: The Triumph of Advertising in America.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 310 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (June 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231115180
• ISBN-13: 978-0231115186
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,387,473 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating, entertaining, and important book!, January 26, 2000

By	E. Balogh "Truth Lover" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I first must take issue with a previous review. There is nothing remotely complex about the language Twitchell uses - certainly nothing that would require anyone with a basic vocabulary to need a dictionary. On the contrary, I found that Twitchell is often quite amusing and there were even times I laughed out loud at his astute observations and the entertaining way he presents them. Having said that, I did find one thing slightly irritating - the use of extensive footnotes that could easily have been included in the text without forcing the reader to jump around. Still, that doesn't detract from the important ideas Twitchell presents. You will never look at the world (and particularly the world of adverised products) the same way after reading this. This book, however, goes far beyond merely addressing products and how they are advertised. It addresses the psychology of "meaning" that is fundamental to how each of us construct our innner and outer world. It was given to me as a gift by a friend. I intend to buy several copies and give them to my own friends. I highly recommend it to anyone even if they are not interested in advertising per se. After reading "Lead us Into Temptation" they will be.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pragmatic view point on consumerism and advertising, August 15, 2002

By	G. Powell (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lead Us Into Temptation (Paperback)

An interesting read about the invasive consumerism of the 20th century. His basic take is we buy what we want, it isn't foisted on us by advertsing. All that you see on TV is an ad, including the "news", the sitcom set, ie house, clothes, pots, pans, lamps and has been since the beginning of TV. And that "Democracy" is the freedom to buy what you want when you want it.

He makes a good case that this has been what people "really" want since time imortal. And that no amount of whining about how it isn't good for you can compete with the almighty dollar. Simply put, if you really didn't want it, you wouldn't buy it.

I do agree that he can get long winded in his arguments.

Anyone looking to start up another .com company would do well to read this first.

30 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretentious twaddle disguised as scholarship, March 11, 2000

By A Customer

First, it was quite obvious that the author has some sort of animus against non-materialism, since he seems to glory in taking gratuitous chops at environmentalists, the voluntary simplicity movement, and pretty much anyone who doesn't agree with him. I was thoroughly sick of it by the end of the first chapter.

Second, he does not back up many of his assertions, despite a plethora of footnotes. For instance, he asserts that kitchens have gotten smaller in the last few decades (seemingly as a way of proving that we eat more take out and less home cooked food), without stating whether he means suburban or urban kitchens, new construction or remodelling, apartment, condo or detached kitchens...you get the picture. There are similarly unsupported assertions about trash disposal, landfills, and teenage buying patterns.

Finally, it was *dull*. The only parts that were even vaguely entertaining were the last few chapters, when the polemics were replaced by personal reporting of his trip to a mall. I learned very little about American materialism, and far more than I wished about the author's political biases.

A huge disappointment.