Thomas Hine, the author of four previous books, including Populuxe and The Total Package, is a writer on culture, history, and design. He is a columnist for Philadelphia Magazine and a contributor to the Atlantic Monthly, Martha Stewart Living, Architectural Record, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and other publications. He Lives in Philadelphia.
A fun book to read. --St. Petersburg Times I Want That! raises questions about consumption, material goods, trends, cultural shapers, markets, choice, desire and guilt, and makes one really think about the state of perverse pleasure and desire for reward that Thomas Hine terms the buyosphere. Shop till you drop, or consume only till noon? The ultimate rewards of our crazy lives of perpetual work, the evanescent pleasure of consuming, and our over-informative material culture with its excrescence of choice, are all discussed, clearly, concisely, and cogently. I Want This Book!--Karim Rashid, Industrial Designer I Want That!...help[s] us understand an activity that is fraught with cultural implications. --New York Times A witty and informal history of the way people shop. Casual and Cheerful, with interesting nuggets scattered about. --Kirkus Reviews A choice morsel to consider while foraging on your next hunter-gatherer expedition. --Dallas Morning News