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Living It Up : America's Love Affair with Luxury
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Sales rank 123,442
Customers rating (based on 8 reviews)
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Luxury isn't just for the rich, says James B. Twitchell. Today you don't need a six-figure income to wear pashmina, drink a limited-edition coffee at Starbucks, or drive a Mercedes home to collapse on the couch in front of a flat-screen plasma TV. In Living It Up, sharp-eyed consumer anthropologist Twitchell takes a witty and insightful look at luxury -- what it is, who defines it, and why we can't seem to get enough of it. In recent years, says Twitchell, luxury spending has grown much faster than overall spending -- and it continues to grow despite the economic recession. Luxury has become such a powerful marketing force that it cuts across every layer of society, spawning a magazine devoted to spas, cashmere bedspreads on sale at Kmart, and a dazzling array of bottled waters. Twitchell says that the democratization of luxury has had a unifying effect on culture. Luxury items tell a story that we want to identify with, and more people than ever aspire to the story of Ralph Lauren's Polo or Patek Philippe. Shopping itself is no longer a chore but a transcendent experience in which we shop not so much for goods as for an identity. Sharply observed and wickedly funny, Living It Up is a revealing and entertaining examination of why we are all part of the cult of luxury.
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| Publisher | Simon & Schuster | | Release date | 07/2003 | | Availability | Usually ships in 24 hours | | Edition | Paperback |
| | List price | $14 | | Our price | $11.2 (you save 20.00%) | | Used price | from $0.14 |
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 Quirky and funny observations that shine with the light of instant recognition
Defining the new breed of Las Vega theme hotels as cathedrals of luxury as experience may sound sacrilegious, but I don't think it is (of course, its easier that its someone else's religion being gored, not mine!), and I know that Twitchell does not intend it to be sacrilegious.
Full of quirky and funny observations that shine with the light of instant recognition, not really about economics or luxury goods (note that they're not called "bads", says Twitchell) or shopping or Vegas, but wittily telling in all those areas in the same way that "philosophy" used to encompass politics, religion, economics, and ethics. That shouldn't be surprising given his job as a professor of English at the University of Florida specializing in romanticism.
That doesn't account for his sharp eye for detail and irony that keeps this book far from academic irrelevance, pedanticism, or dryness.
The best review I can give of this book is that I am adding Twitchell's other books on advertising, materialism, and American culture to my "want-to-read" list.
 A glorious state of denial
This deserves three stars, at least, for its wit. Even as I disagreed with Twitchell, I found myself wanting to read more.
There are several things terribly wrong with his argument, such as his ignoring the mindlessness of much consumption. He thinks consumers are aware, but that doesn't hold water, or advertisers would not make or spend so much to influence everyone, and they would not be so successful.
The real trouble I have with this book is that Twitchell never, ever connects the growing consumption of "unnecessary" luxury goods with the incredible destruction they are causing all over the world. Even a passing acknowledgment of the environmental catastrophe related to our consumption would make this a better book. At least he could admit he's only interested in luxury as a construct, as something to play with philosophically.
Still, it's definitely worth a read.
 Terrible
The author has no familiarity with his subject and routinely provides the reader with incorrect information.
A Guilty Gordon Gekko
Living it Up starts with the premise that consumption--even overconsumption--is good for the economy and good for your community. Twitchell makes a coherent argument that those who pay ridiculous prices for things they don't need make it possible for the rest of us to pay lower prices for the same things. Then, what used to be a luxury to one generation (indoor plumbing, cars, computers) becomes a necessity for the next.
But somehow, Twitchell seems guilty about all this. He even quotes Gekko (from the movie Wall Street), a bit sheepishly. He praises "first-users" (those who buy the first VCRs, etc. at high prices) while sneering at the stereotypical yuppie with all his toys. Professor Twitchell mocks the voluntary simplicity movement by picking the most hypocritical example he can find, of a back-to-nature advocate who buys acres of her neighbor's land. But he ignores such aspects as not spending more than you have, reducing the amount of stuff you own, enjoying the occasional luxury rather than shopping as a habit.
Interesting reading if you are fascinated by our consumer culture, but a bit confusing as the professor tries to decide where he stands on over-consumption.
Luxury, a new religion analyzed
This is a landmark book. The author analyzes in very detail the mechanisms behind selling luxury to the public, including the religious attributes affixed to those products."Probably it shouldn't get into the hands of consumers", because they might find out they are spending too much money for ordinarily manufactured goods with high status affixed by advertising. On my trips to the US, I wondered how big, luxury only shopping malls could survive, this book tells the reason why. Europe is still more conservative with luxury spending.I wanted to give it 5 stars, but the language used is very difficult to read. To exclude most luxury spenders?
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