One Nation Under Goods

Loved and hated, visited and avoided, seemingly everywhere yet endlessly the same, malls occupy a special place in American life. What, then, is this invention that evokes such strong and contradictory emotions in Americans? In many ways malls represent the apotheosis of American consumerism, and this synthetic and wide-ranging investigation is an eye-popping tour of American culture's values and beliefs. Like your favorite mall, One Nation under Goods is a browser's paradise, and in order to understand America's culture of consumption you need to make a trip to the mall with Farrell. This lively, fast-paced history of the hidden secrets of the shopping mall explains how retail designers make shopping and goods “irresistible.” Architects, chain stores, and mall owners relax and beguile us into shopping through water fountains, ficus trees, mirrors, and covert security cameras. From food courts and fountains to Santa and security, Farrell explains how malls control their patrons and convince us that shopping is always an enjoyable activity. And most importantly, One Nation Under Goods shows why the mall's ultimate promise of happiness through consumption is largely an illusion. It's all here—for one low price, of course.

Shopping malls have become a central aspect of American life and thus interrogating malls and mall practices provides us with a key window into contemporary American society and culture. Recognizing this fact, Farrell (history and American studies, St. Olaf College) presents 14 essays exploring a wide variety of topics surrounding the way Americans experience malls, generally maintaining a focus on the practices of larger regional, superregional, and megamalls, as they dominate the imagery of shopping centers. He explores how malls are designed; the esthetic, political, and ethical narratives that are expressed in malls, shopping practices and other mall experiences; and a range of other topics, expressing the view that, while there may be "good among the goods," malls are still an expression of a negative cluster of values that leads to a commercial culture that characterizes Americans as mainly consumers. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

A revealing look at shopping, consumerism, and mall design in America.

James Farrell is professor of history and director of the American Studies program at St. Olaf College. He is the author of Inventing the American Way of Death, 1830-1920 and The Spirit of the Sixties: Making Postwar Radicalism.