Literary theme analysis, by a book like {foo}
Books about Consumerism
Fight Club
by Chuck Palahniuk
A man's journey of self-discovery and transformation, challenging the status quo of society.
Fight Club centers on an anonymous narrator , who works as a product recall specialist for an unnamed car company. Because of the stress of his job and the jet lag brought upon by frequent business ... (Wikipedia)
White Noise
by Don DeLillo
A darkly comic exploration of modern life, examining the effects of technology and consumer culture.
Set at a bucolic mid-western college known only as The-College-on-the-Hill, White Noise follows a year in the life of Jack Gladney, a professor who has made his name by pioneering the field of Hitler ... (Wikipedia)
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
by Eric Schlosser
An exploration of the industrial food system and its effects on U.S. society.
Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list ... (Goodreads)
Babbitt
by Sinclair Lewis
A satirical exploration of the conformist culture of 1920s America.
Lewis has been both criticized and congratulated for his unorthodox writing style in Babbitt . One reviewer said "There is no plot whatever... Babbitt simply grows two years older as the tale ... (Wikipedia)
Little House in the Big Woods
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Childhood memories of living on a family farm in the Midwest during the late 19th century.
The novel describes the homesteading skills Laura observed and began to practice during her fifth year. It does not contain the more mature (yet real) themes addressed in later books of the series ... (Wikipedia)
American Psycho
by Bret Easton Ellis
A corporate psychopath's descent into homicidal madness, exposing the dark side of 1980s New York.
Set in Manhattan during the Wall Street boom of the late 1980s, American Psycho follows the life of wealthy young investment banker Patrick Bateman. Bateman, in his mid-20s when the story begins, ... (Wikipedia)
Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley
A dystopian society where citizens are genetically engineered and prescribed pleasure-inducing drugs.
The novel opens in the World State city of London in AF (After Ford) 632 (AD 2540 in the Gregorian calendar ), where citizens are engineered through artificial wombs and childhood indoctrination ... (Wikipedia)
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments
by David Foster Wallace
Collection of essays and arguments, exploring the absurdities of contemporary culture.
In this exuberantly praised book — a collection of seven pieces on subjects ranging from television to tennis, from the Illinois State Fair to the films of David Lynch, from postmodern literary ... (Goodreads)
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto
by Chuck Klosterman
An exploration of pop culture and its influence on contemporary life.
Countless writers and artists have spoken for a generation, but no one has done it quite like Chuck Klosterman. With an exhaustive knowledge of popular culture and an almost effortless ability to ... (Goodreads)
Confessions of a Shopaholic
by Sophie Kinsella
A woman's struggle to balance her love of shopping and her financial woes.
Rebecca Bloomwood lives in a flat in fashionable Fulham , London, that is owned by her best friend Suze's wealthy, aristocratic parents. , Becky works as a financial journalist for the magazine ... (Wikipedia)
Microserfs
by Douglas Coupland
A humorous and poignant look at the lives of tech employees in the 1990s.
The plot of the novel has two distinct movements: the events at Microsoft in Redmond, Washington , and the move to Silicon Valley and the "Oop!" project. The novel begins in Redmond as the characters ... (Wikipedia)
The Ladies' Paradise
by Émile Zola
A story of ambition and romance set in the world of a 19th Century Parisian department store.
The Ladies Paradise (Au Bonheur des Dames) recounts the rise of the modern department store in late nineteenth-century Paris. The store is a symbol of capitalism, of the modern city, and of the ... (Goodreads)
White Jazz
by James Ellroy
A gritty and violent crime novel set in 1950s Los Angeles, following a corrupt cop's descent into madness and murder.
Dave Klein is a lieutenant in the LAPD 's vice unit . He has a sister named Meg, with whom he shares an incestuous attraction, and performs contract killings for the mob to cover the costs for law ... (Wikipedia)
The Circle
by Dave Eggers
A cautionary tale of a powerful tech company that blurs the boundaries between privacy and surveillance.
Mae Holland, a recent college graduate, lands a job at The Circle, a powerful technology company run by the "Three Wise Men"—Tom Stenton, a ruthless businessman; Eamon Bailey, a likeable public ... (Wikipedia)
Infinite Jest
by David Foster Wallace
A journey through the absurdist world of entertainment, drugs, addiction & death.
There are four major interwoven narratives: , These narratives are connected via a film, Infinite Jest , also referred to in the novel as "the Entertainment" or "the samizdat ". The film is so ... (Wikipedia)
Holidays on Ice
by David Sedaris
Collection of humorous essays, exploring the absurdities of the holiday season.
David Sedaris's beloved holiday collection is new again with six more pieces, including a never before published story. Along with such favorites as the diaries of a Macy's elf and the annals of two ... (Goodreads)
Walden
by Henry David Thoreau
A reflective journey into nature, exploring the power of contemplation and simplicity.
Originally published in 1854, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, is a vivid account of the time that Henry D. Thoreau lived alone in a secluded cabin at Walden Pond. It is one of the most influential and ... (Goodreads)
Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture
by Douglas Coupland
A satirical look at the lives of disaffected young adults in the early 1990s.
Andy, Dag and Claire have been handed a society priced beyond their means. Twentysomethings, brought up with divorce, Watergate and Three Mile Island, and scarred by the 80s fall-out of yuppies, ... (Goodreads)
No Logo
by Naomi Klein
A critique of the negative impact of corporate branding and globalization on society and culture.
With a new Afterword to the 2002 edition, No Logo employs journalistic savvy and personal testament to detail the insidious practices and far-reaching effects of corporate marketing—and the powerful ... (Goodreads)
Diary
by Chuck Palahniuk
An exploration of the depths of human depravity, exposing the darkest aspects of society.
Diary takes the form of a "coma diary" telling the story of Misty Marie Wilmot as her husband lies senseless in a hospital after a suicide attempt. The story is not exactly told by Misty but through ... (Wikipedia)
7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess
by Jen Hatmaker
A spiritual and practical journey to live with less, finding freedom and contentment.
Why do we pursue, more, when we'd be happier with, less,? This is the story of how, New York Times, bestselling author Jen Hatmaker and her family tried to combat overindulgence—and what they learned ... (Barnes & Noble)
SantaLand Diaries
by David Sedaris
An absurdist account of the author's working at a Christmas theme park.
'Santaland Diaries' contains six of David Sedaris' most profound Christmas stories, from Dinah, the Christmas Whore to Season's Greetings to our Friends and Family. ... (Goodreads)
Horrorstör
by Grady Hendrix
A group of employees battle supernatural forces in a haunted Scandinavian furniture store.
Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring bookshelves, shattered Glans water goblets, and smashed ... (Goodreads)
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
by Neil Postman
Analysis of the effects of mass media on modern culture and how it changes communication.
Television has conditioned us to tolerate visually entertaining material measured out in spoonfuls of time, to the detriment of rational public discourse and reasoned public affairs. In this ... (Goodreads)
The Map and the Territory
by Michel Houellebecq
A darkly humorous exploration of life, art, and success in the modern world.
Si Jed Martin, le personnage principal de ce roman, devait vous en raconter l’histoire, il commencerait peut-être par vous parler d’une panne de chauffe-eau, un certain 15 décembre. Ou de son père, ... (Goodreads)
Super Sad True Love Story
by Gary Shteyngart
A darkly comic exploration of love in a technologically-driven world.
The son of a Russian immigrant , protagonist Leonard (Lenny) Abramov, a middle-aged, middle class, otherwise unremarkable man whose mentality is still in the past century, falls madly in love with ... (Wikipedia)
Pattern Recognition
by William Gibson
A story of a woman's search for truth and identity in a digital world.
Advertising consultant Cayce Pollard , who reacts to logos and advertising as if to an allergen , arrives in London in August 2002. She is working on a contract with the marketing firm Blue Ant to ... (Wikipedia)
Rant
by Chuck Palahniuk
A darkly humorous and surreal look into a world of chaos, taking on societal norms and conventions.
Buster Casey is born in the rural town of Middleton with the senses of smell and taste far more advanced than any other human. He acquires the nickname "Rant" from a childhood prank involving animal ... (Wikipedia)
Skipping Christmas
by John Grisham
A family forgoes their traditional holiday celebration, leading to unexpected adventures.
The story focuses on how Luther and Nora Krank try to avoid the frenzy traditionally experienced during the Christmas holiday. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving , the two take their daughter Blair to ... (Wikipedia)
Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us
by Michael Moss
An exposé of the food industry, exploring the manipulation of consumers through marketing.
Every year, the average American eats 33 pounds of cheese and 70 pounds of sugar. They ingest 8,500 milligrams of salt a day, double the recommended amount, almost none of which comes from salt ... (Goodreads)
Damned
by Chuck Palahniuk
A powerful satire of American culture, as a young woman confronts the absurdities of society.
The novel opens with 13-year-old Madison "Maddy" Spencer waking in Hell , unsure of the details surrounding her death. She believes she died of a marijuana overdose while her celebrity parents were ... (Wikipedia)
Shopaholic Takes Manhattan
by Sophie Kinsella
A young woman's comedic journey to New York City, discovering her true purpose in life.
The irresistible heroine of Confessions of a Shopaholic and Shopaholic Ties the Knot is back! And this time Becky Bloomwood and her credit cards are headed across the Atlantic.... With her shopping ... (Goodreads)
Lullaby
by Chuck Palahniuk
A dark satire of modern society, following a journalist in search of the mysterious 'lullaby' killer.
Newspaper reporter Carl Streator has been assigned to write articles on a series of cases of sudden infant death syndrome , from which his own child had died. Carl discovers that his wife and child ... (Wikipedia)
The Edible Woman
by Margaret Atwood
A young woman's exploration of identity, as she learns to confront her own desires.
Marian MacAlpin works in a market research firm, writing survey questions and sampling products. She shares the top-floor apartment of a house in Toronto (never named in the novel) with her roommate ... (Wikipedia)
Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism
by Fumio Sasaki
A minimalist lifestyle guide, reshaping our relationship with possessions.
The best-selling phenomenon from Japan that shows us a minimalist life is a happy life. Fumio Sasaki is not an enlightened minimalism expert or organizing guru like Marie Kondo—he’s just a regular ... (Barnes & Noble)
Stuff White People Like: A Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions
by Christian Lander
Satirical exploration of the lifestyle preferences and cultural quirks of white people in the United States.
They love nothing better than sipping free-trade gourmet coffee, leafing through the Sunday New York Times , and listening to David Sedaris on NPR (ideally all at the same time). Apple products, ... (Goodreads)
Less Than Zero
by Bret Easton Ellis
A young man returns to his hometown of Los Angeles and becomes disillusioned with the empty and hedonistic lifestyle of his wealthy friends.
The novel follows the life of Clay, a rich, young college student who has returned to his hometown of Los Angeles , California for winter break circa 1984. Through first-person narration , Clay ... (Wikipedia)
Shopaholic and Sister
by Sophie Kinsella
A comedic adventure of two sisters who rediscover their bond while navigating the world of shopping.
Irresistible, one-woman shopping phenomenon Becky Bloomwood is back in this hilarious, heartwarming, New York Times bestselling tale of married life, best friends, and long-lost sisters (and the ... (Goodreads)
Feed
by M.T. Anderson
In a future where everyone is connected to the internet through their brains, a group of teenagers rebel against the system.
The novel portrays a near-future in which the feednet , a huge computer network (apparently an advanced form of the Internet), is directly connected to the brains of about 73% of American citizens by ... (Wikipedia)
Status Anxiety
by Alain de Botton
An exploration of the psychological repercussions of modern society's obsession with status.
Anyone who’s ever lost sleep over an unreturned phone call or the neighbor’s Lexus had better read Alain de Botton’s irresistibly clear-headed new book, immediately. For in its pages, a master ... (Goodreads)
Platform
by Michel Houellebecq
Satirical exploration of the modern world and its discontents.
The story is the first-person narrative of a fictional character named Michel Renault, a Parisian civil servant who, after the death of his father and thanks to a hefty inheritance, engages in sexual ... (Wikipedia)
Bright Lights, Big City
by Jay McInerney
A young man's journey of personal growth, navigating the chaos of New York City.
The story's narrator is a 24-year-old writer who works as a fact checker for a highbrow magazine for which he had once hoped to write. By night, he is a cocaine -using party-goer seeking to lose ... (Wikipedia)
Crash
by J.G. Ballard
A dystopian novel exploring the surreal and chaotic landscape of a near-future Los Angeles.
The story is told through the eyes of narrator James Ballard, named after the author himself, but it centers on the sinister figure of Dr. Robert Vaughan, a "former TV-scientist, turned nightmare ... (Wikipedia)
The Philosophy of Andy Warhol
by Andy Warhol
An exploration of the life, works, and philosophy of the iconic Pop-Art figure.
A loosely formed autobiography by Andy Warhol, told with his trademark blend of irony and detachment In The Philosophy of Andy Warhol —which, with the subtitle "(From A to B and Back Again)," is less ... (Goodreads)
The Loved One
by Evelyn Waugh
Satirical tale of a young man's journey to a funeral home in Los Angeles.
Sir Ambrose Abercrombie visits housemates Dennis Barlow and Sir Francis Hinsley to express his concern about Barlow's new job and how it reflects on the British enclave in Hollywood, which is also ... (Wikipedia)
Possible Side Effects
by Augusten Burroughs
A humorous, darkly satirical look at the pharmaceutical industry and its effects on individuals.
National Bestseller From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Running with Scissors comes Augusten Burroughs's most provocative collection of true stories yet. From nicotine gum addiction to ... (Goodreads)
The Society of the Spectacle
by Guy Debord
A critical analysis of the commodification of society and the power of the media.
Few works of political and cultural theory have been as enduringly provocative as Guy Debord's The Society of the Spectacle. From its publication amid the social upheavals of the 1960s up to the ... (Goodreads)
Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture
by Peggy Orenstein
An exploration of the effects of the girlie-girl culture on young girls and their parents.
The acclaimed author of the groundbreaking bestseller, Schoolgirls, reveals the dark side of pink and pretty: the rise of the girlie-girl, she warns, is not that innocent., Sweet and sassy or ... (Goodreads)
Simulacra and Simulation
by Jean Baudrillard
Analysis of the effects of technology on our lives, exploring the concept of hyperreality.
The publication of Simulacra et Simulation in 1981 marked Jean Baudrillard's first important step toward theorizing the postmodern. Moving away from the Marxist/Freudian approaches that had concerned ... (Goodreads)
Mini Shopaholic
by Sophie Kinsella
A young woman confronts her shopping addiction and learns to manage her finances.
Sophie Kinsella has dazzled readers with her irresistible Shopaholic novels–sensational international bestsellers that have garnered millions of devoted fans and catapulted her into the first rank of ... (Goodreads)
Glamorama
by Bret Easton Ellis
A man's descent into a world of fame, glamour, and superficiality.
The author of American Psycho and Less Than Zero continues to shock and haunt us with his incisive and brilliant dissection of the modern world.In his most ambitious and gripping book yet, Bret ... (Goodreads)
Everything That Remains: A Memoir by the Minimalists
by Joshua Fields Millburn
A memoir about two friends who left their corporate jobs and embraced minimalism, finding happiness in simplicity and letting go of excess possessions.
What if everything you ever wanted isn't what you actually want? Twenty-something, suit-clad, and upwardly mobile, Joshua Fields Millburn thought he had everything anyone could ever want. Until he ... (Barnes & Noble)
JPod
by Douglas Coupland
A darkly humorous look at the lives of the twenty-somethings working in the video game industry.
JPod , Douglas Coupland's most acclaimed novel to date, is a lethal joyride into today's new breed of tech worker. Ethan Jarlewski and five co-workers whose surnames begin with "J" are ... (Goodreads)
The Medium is the Massage
by Marshall McLuhan
Examining how media shapes and influences society.
The Medium is the Massage is Marshall McLuhan's most condensed, and perhaps most effective, presentation of his ideas. Using a layout style that was later copied by Wired , McLuhan and ... (Goodreads)
Generation A
by Douglas Coupland
Five strangers from around the world are stung by bees and become the most famous people on Earth.
“Now you young twerps want a new name for your generation? Probably not, you just want jobs, right? Well, the media do us all such tremendous favors when they call you Generation X, right? Two clicks ... (Goodreads)
Books v. Cigarettes
by George Orwell
Orwell's essay explores the cost of books and cigarettes, arguing that books are a better investment for the mind and soul.
Beginning with a dilemma about whether he spends more money on reading or smoking, George Orwell's entertaining and uncompromising essays go on to explore everything from the perils of second-hand ... (Goodreads)
The Informers
by Bret Easton Ellis
A collection of interrelated stories set in 1980s Los Angeles, exploring the dark and depraved lives of the city's elite.
Set in Los Angeles, in the recent past. The birthplace and graveyard of American myths and dreams, the city harbours a group of people trapped between the beauty of their surroundings and their own ... (Goodreads)
Sellevision
by Augusten Burroughs
A satirical novel about the behind-the-scenes drama of a home shopping network and its dysfunctional hosts.
Darkly funny and gleefully mean-spirited,, Sellevision, explores greed, obsession and third tier celebrity, in the world of a fictional home shopping network.,Welcome to the troubled world of ... (Goodreads)
The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less
by Barry Schwartz
An exploration of how the abundance of choice in modern life can lead to unhappiness and paralysis.
In the spirit of Alvin Tofflers' Future Shock , a social critique of our obsession with choice, and how it contributes to anxiety, dissatisfaction and regret. Whether we're buying a pair of jeans, ... (Goodreads)
Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion
by Elizabeth L. Cline
Investigative journey into the fashion industry's impact on the environment, economy, and society. Reveals the true cost of fast fashion.
“Overdressed does for T-shirts and leggings what, Fast Food,, Nation, did for burgers and fries.” —Katha Pollitt Cheap fashion has fundamentally changed the way most Americans dress. Stores ranging ... (Barnes & Noble)
Syrup
by Max Barry
A satirical novel about the cutthroat world of marketing and advertising, following a young man's rise to success and the consequences that come with it.
Set in the present day, a young marketing graduate named Scat comes up with an idea for a new product for Coca-Cola called 'Fukk'. This causes him to go to Coca-Cola to sell his idea for $3 million, ... (Wikipedia)
Imperial Bedrooms
by Bret Easton Ellis
A dark and twisted tale of a group of Hollywood friends whose lives are intertwined with sex, drugs, and violence.
The action of Imperial Bedrooms depicts Clay, who, after four months in New York, returns to Los Angeles to assist in the casting of his new film. There, he meets up with his old friends who were ... (Wikipedia)
Shampoo Planet
by Douglas Coupland
Tyler, a young man, navigates through the consumerist culture of America, searching for meaning and connection in a world of excess.
Tyler Johnson is a 20-year-old MTV child. Once a baby raised in a hippie commune, he is now an ambitious Reagan youth dreaming of a career with the corporation whose offices his mother once ... (Goodreads)
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