Buy new:
-67% $7.46
$5.98 delivery Friday, May 17
Ships from: AceBook
Sold by: AceBook
$7.46 with 67 percent savings
List Price: $22.95

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
$5.98 delivery Friday, May 17. Details
Or fastest delivery May 14 - 16. Details
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$7.46 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$7.46
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
AceBook
Ships from
AceBook
Sold by
AceBook
Sold by
AceBook
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$6.44
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
Crease on the back cover, Minimal wear, the binding is tight, the pages are free of markings. Crease on the back cover, Minimal wear, the binding is tight, the pages are free of markings. See less
FREE delivery Friday, May 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$7.46 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$7.46
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the authors

Thomas Frank
+ Follow
Matt Weiland
+ Follow
See all
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Commodify Your Dissent: Salvos from First Edition

by Thomas Frank (Editor), Matt Weiland (Editor)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 26 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$7.46","priceAmount":7.46,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"7","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"46","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"vnHuHjFwt%2FKpvh9eWoR2h2WCay%2BYi8yhO7AOVaPESU7xGWvsU1KoIuhw2l3Kfo6tKprAzv5udWKIgn%2BRjskhA7GBMIZ3ruZFwB3qnTRa5R540M8xXf9zn%2B8fumCX72j9tsQAnEOpQtDxP52R2XrlUELyRVcj%2BkIT6uKLstw8GUKHgVoA1R%2FUig%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$6.44","priceAmount":6.44,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"6","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"44","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"vnHuHjFwt%2FKpvh9eWoR2h2WCay%2BYi8yhz2%2Bqkd68%2Bf2wZMYt56PGJUIwo6CKHEOqS9LE6oAPscghPhQcQKG4WPJjsSwVhyuvUIFAASCI%2FOIXffb8a0JDYxB%2BMZNumRQ%2Fc6nEIcp5jpksrNbwk4CRFUhq%2B350wLaA0qRNmrmk1o1pNx2Syd8GjdPLtW03JFY%2F","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

From the pages of The Baffler, the most vital and perceptive new magazine of the nineties, sharp, satirical broadsides against the Culture Trust.

In the "old" Gilded Age, the barons of business accumulated vast wealth and influence from their railroads, steel mills, and banks. But today it is culture that stands at the heart of the American enterprise, mass entertainment the economic dynamo that brings the public into the consuming fold and consolidates the power of business over the American mind. For a decade The Baffler has been the invigorating voice of dissent against these developments, in the grand tradition of the muckrakers and The American Mercury. This collection gathers the best of its writing to explore such peculiar developments as the birth of the rebel hero as consumer in the pages of Wired and Details; the ever-accelerating race to market youth culture; the rise of new business gurus like Tom Peters and the fad for Hobbesian corporate "reengineering"; and the encroachment of advertising and commercial enterprise into every last nook and cranny of American life. With its liberating attitude and cant-free intelligence, this book is a powerful polemic against the designs of the culture business on us all.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. ISBN-10
    0393316734
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0393316735
  3. Edition
    First Edition
  4. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  5. Publication date
    October 17, 1997
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.8 x 8.3 inches
  8. Print length
    288 pages
  9. See all details
Next page
Amazon First Reads | Editors' picks at exclusive prices

Frequently bought together

Commodify Your Dissent: Salvos from
$7.46
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Ships from and sold by AceBook.
+
The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism
$19.00
Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 15
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
One of these items ships sooner than the other.
Show details Hide details
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In this thought-provoking collection of essays, editor Thomas Frank and other contributors to the contrarian journal the Baffler examine the unprecedented ascendancy of business as the dominating force in American life. If the closest historical parallel is with the Gilded Age and its all-powerful robber barons, Frank and his ilk clearly see themselves as the muckrakers out to expose the absurdities and abuses of big business. Today, however, advertising has come to permeate every aspect of our society, and corporations are in the business of manufacturing culture--what Frank calls the "Culture Trust." These essays analyze the ways in which this Culture Trust has co-opted the power of dissent by appropriating the language and symbolism of nonconformist youth culture, from hippie slang to grunge fashion; in other words, when the media markets rebellion, it becomes just another consumer choice. As evidence, the essayists explore the image of consumer as rebel pioneered by publications such as Details and Wired, as well as the preeminence of "revolutionary" business gurus such as Tom Peters. The result is a highly original book, a satirical and savage indictment of '90s consumerist culture.

Review

You'd have to look back at the fights between New York intellectuals in the fifties to find the sort of verbal firepower unleashed here. -- Nation

[Frank is] ... perhaps the most provocative young cultural critic of the moment, and certainly the most malcontent... Although he has been to graduate school ... both his thinking and his prose hark back to a time when the radical left was something more in America than conferences and seminars attended by Foucault-steeped professors. Frank has thrown off the mandarin jargon; for him it's about wealth and power, haves and have-nots, loud and simple--it's as if he were channeling Herbert Marcuse and C. Wright Mills and Thorstein Veblen through a boom box. -- The New York Times Book Review, Gerald Marzorati

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition (October 17, 1997)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393316734
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393316735
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 26 ratings

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Previous page
  1. Thomas Frank

    Thomas Frank

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Questions frequently asked Thomas Frank.

    - Kansas, really?

    - Aren’t you one of these liberals that you’re always scolding?

    - Is it true that President Trump uses “The Wrecking Crew” as a field manual?

    - “The Baffler” – what’s that all about?

    - You don’t look particularly cool. Why do you write about coolness?

    - Why aren’t you, like, a college professor or something?

    - Why all these books about politics? I mean, that’s hardly the right subject for a culture critic or whatever it is you call yourself.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Matt Weiland

    Matt Weiland

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

    See more on the author's page
Next page

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
26 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Nicholas R. Hunter
5.0 out of 5 stars You'll either get it or you won't.
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2001
Verified Purchase
If you don't get it, don't worry. Practically the whole of western popular rock 'n' roll "culture" is geared to your tastes. For the tiny minority that is the rest of us, discovery of the Baffler is like Robinson Crusoe's discovery of footprints on the beach. Sharp writing, lots of attitude, socially conscious, and funny! Backnumbers are difficult to find, especially since the April 25th, 2001 fire which destroyed the Baffler office, so snap up this collection and take out a subscription immediately!! The future of western civilisation, or at least the snotty, overeducated, disaffected part, might depend on you!
10 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Pablo
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2015
Verified Purchase
Critiques of media and popular culture in the 90s are still as relevant as ever.
Helpful
 Report
William T. Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars Culture Commentary
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2013
Verified Purchase
Insightful commentary of our present culture. If you want a intelligent perspective on hidden motivations current in our systems then these are the people who you will hear no where else. I congratulate their courage in publishing this magazine.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
J. Bosiljevac
4.0 out of 5 stars Some interesting insights
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2004
A collection of some of the best writing from the magazine known for its scathing critiques of modern business and media practices. A good read, although at times I felt like they just hated everything. Still, some interesting looks into how rebellion and "alternative", among other things, have been co-opted by the mainstream and thus stripped of meaning.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Maginot
5.0 out of 5 stars Insiteful and funny
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2002
This collection of essays provides a gutsy, incisive, and energetic critique of American consumer culture that surpasses and even ridicules the limp, flaccid, self-referential verbiage that academics try to pass off as a "radical", and "critical" examination of culture and power. "Commodify Your Dissent" is a series of critical essays, or "salvos" as the authors prefer to call them, that were printed in The Baffler during the 90's largely in response to the hypocrisy, and gluttony of the America's expanding techno-consumer culture. Using lucid, forthright language, direct examples, and actual critical thinking (not the mental self-gratification generated by tenured radicals) the authors demonstrate how corporate America has commercialized the concept of revolution and employed it along marketing and production guidelines that are-guess what-conformist and conservative. In the 90's culture, as these essays so aptly demonstrate, "free thinking, revolution" and "breaking the rules" really amounted to a double-speak ideology centered around buying more gadgets and helping companies to make more money, a process that was reinforced in words and letters by such "radical" cultural critics as Camille Paglia.
This book is bound to anger a lot of readers because, it's gutsy, direct, and ruthless in its battering of the misused tropes and recycled clichés that enable legions of consumers, workers, and managers to feel like they're breaking the rules when in fact they are merely conforming to and reinforcing them. I know it's a hard fact to face, but buying a recycled pair of bell-bottoms is not an act of rebellion.
17 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Stephen R. Shulman-Laniel
3.0 out of 5 stars Provocative, informative, loud, almost shrill
Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2002
I consider myself a die-hard leftist, and I agree with most of the conclusions that the authors of _Commodify Your Dissent_ come to. It reminds me a lot of Noam Chomsky, another leftist who reveals modern consumer culture for what it is.
The problem is that the left is remarkably short on solutions, or even the feeling that solutions are possible. _Commodify Your Dissent_ is a collection of essays whose premise is that the U.S. situation is hopeless:
* as many other authors have said, our main means of dissent - our writing, particularly irony - has been swallowed up by our enemies; it's now hip to be ironic, so advertisers adopt irony about advertising as their pose toward the world. So we can't use irony anymore.
* In the U.S., "identity" now means "what car I own and what clothes I wear." We define ourselves as consumers. Once again, we've moved so far in this direction that it's impossible to imagine a way out.
* The culture of business dominates American discourse. We look up to American business leaders as our new gods, and we assume that The Market will correct everything. Resisting The Market is futile, because it is infinitely more intelligent than any policymaker. Hence, leave the world to the Bill Gateses.
* Music is corporatized junk.
and so on, ad nauseum, for a couple hundred pages. After a while, we - or at least I - get numbed to it. Great, so the world has been utterly cheapened by corporations. Sure, corporations own the political process. And? What do I do about it?
_The Baffler_ has no suggestions, which in the end makes it a shrill mouthpiece of powerlessness. We've grown up on a steady diet of powerlessness. The left would assert that this is because the power structure *wants* us to think we're powerless; it helps them when few of us resist. Now _The Baffler_ - with the totally altruistic goal of helping us out - has told us again that we're powerless, has strengthened the case, and has done nothing to correct this impression.
_Commodify Your Dissent_ ends with one of the most shrill, paranoid, counterproductive essays I've ever read, bringing to a crescendo all the doomsaying that peppered the foregoing pages.
Nothing's wrong with being shrill and unproductive. I just thought it fair to warn people that they're getting more of what they're used to.
51 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Keith Braithwaite (keithb@parallax.co.uk)
4.0 out of 5 stars American self-doubt at its best.
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 1998
There are few things less entertaining than the rich and sucessful whining about the dreadfullnes of it all, so one might imagine that this book would be a pain to read. Not so, it is a gem.
While it is certianly true that US citizens lead the world in having more of everything than they could possibly want or need and being *so* upset about it, the writers of The Baffler have a genuine gripe: that dissent has become one lifestyle choice amongst many, with a thriving support industry. The best sections of the book are the ads and market report promoting a dissent products and services company; all too credible.
This collection provides a very valuable insight into the Amrican psyche: I would heartily recommend it to any Europeans who were wondering just what is is that the Americans are complaining about all the time.
8 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report