Living It Up

James B. Twitchell is professor of English at the University of Florida and the author of many books including Adcult USA, Lead Us Into Temptation, and 20 Ads That Shook the World.

• 1. Over the Top: Americans in the Lap of Luxury 2. The Social Construction of Luxury: A Taxonomy of Taste 3. Let's Go Shopping: The Streets of Material Dreams 4. Where Opuluxe Is Made and Who Makes It: LVMH and Conde Nast 5. How Luxury Becomes Necessity: The Work of Advertising 6. From Shirts to Tulips: A Musing on Luxury 7. Viva Las Vegas! A Strip of Luxury 8. Still Learning From Las Vegas: How Luxury Is Turning Religious Conclusion A (Mild) Defense of Luxury

The author is savvy enough to conduct most of his research in the real world. This is the rare book project that forces the writer to shop on Rodeo Drive, leaf through Vanity Fair... and visit the most extravagant spots in Las Vegas... [An] engaging addition to the growing field of Luxe Lit. -- Janet Maslin The New York Times Twitchell makes a persuasive argument that the desire for status goods provides a cohesive bond. Business Week Twitchell is an amusingly sassy writer, and he clearly had so much fun researching this book. San Francisco Bay Guardian Interesting tidbits... Twitchell makes the case for a mild defense of luxury in that its mass consumption ultimately lifts up the masses economically. Booklist Twitchell addresses conspicuous consumption in a new way, free of the superior tone often adopted by his academic peers. He embarks on a course of fieldwork that is both absurdist and charming, as he chats up Fendi salespeople and stands slack-jawed in the lobby of the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas... He comes away with insights about the American quest for luxury products and provides a history of such yearning. With its intelligence and wit, Twitchell's exploration of consumerism belongs in every shopping bag. Publishers Weekly (starred review) [E]xerburant, sprightly, mischievous, gaudy, dippy, endlessly entertaining... -- Eugen Weber Times Literary Supplement Exuberant, sprightly, mischievous, gaudy, dippy, endlessly entertaining, and also a bit sad. -- Eugen Weber TLS Very interesting... intriguing... highly engaging, witty, and sophisticated. Choice Twitchell is at his best here: witty, observant, and self-deprecating...Living It Up is a pleasure to read. Twitchell is an engaging and entertaining writer. -- Ian Brailsford Australasian Journal of American Studies