From Publishers Weekly

'We shop therefore we are' seems to be the conclusion of this homage to the great American pastime. Rather than pass judgment on our shopping compulsion, Zukin, an endowed chair of sociology at the City University of New York, provides a historical and analytical context to help readers understand how shopping has affected public and private life from the mid-19th century to today. Zukin's 1995 book, The Cultures of Cities, described her experiences growing up in one of Philadelphia's retail neighborhoods and examined how other shopping districts, like 125th Street in Harlem and Fulton Street in Brooklyn, had gone through significant racial changes. Here she dissects shopping culture at large, from eBay and the Internet to the death of Woolworth's and the birth of WalMart. Well researched and thorough, the book unearths how and where we shop and, more importantly, why consumer culture has so much power over us. Zukin examines these issues by analyzing both particular individuals' experiences-such as a young woman's search for the perfect pair of leather pants-and retailers' shifts in business strategies. For many people, Zukin writes, shopping isn't simply a transaction, but an experience: "We dream of shopping for beauty, truth and perfection, and if we do not shop for a perfect society, at least we shop for a perfect self." She believes that the noblest aspect of shopping is finding a community, a discovery that usually happens at a place like a farmer's market or a neighborhood store, where interaction among customers is fostered. Rallying for these public spaces rather than buying things, she argues, should be what we use shopping to achieve. Though this book is more likely to appeal to specialists than to general readers, Zukin's lively prose and vivid anecdotes may win her a larger audience.

Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

莎朗·佐京（Sharon Zuki n）毕业于美国哥伦比亚大学，现为纽约市立大学社会学系教授。她是纽约文化与建筑的书写者，此外，她的研究领域涉及消费社会与文化、美国与法国的经济新秩序和前南斯拉夫的社会主义。她因《权力地景》一书获得赖特·米尔斯（C.Wri ght Mi l l s）社会学研究奖，并且获得了美国社会学学会社区与城市社会学的罗伯特和海伦·林德（Robert and Hel en Lynd）成就奖。佐京著有《裸城：真实都市空间的死与生》（2010），《购买点：购物如何改变了美国文化》（2004），《城市文化》（1995），《权力地景：从底特律到迪斯尼世界》（1991），《阁楼生活：都市变革中的文化与资本》（1982，1989），《马克思与铁托之外》（1975）。她还与迈克·索尔金（Michael Sorki n）合编文集《世贸中心之后》（2002），与保罗·迪马乔（PaulDi Maggi o）合编《资本的结构》（1990），还编有《产业政策：美国与法国的商业与政治》（1985）。