Based on two highly acclaimed PBS documentaries watched by 10 million viewers, "Affluenza uses the whimsical metaphor of a disease to tackle a very...
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Jul 19, 2008
Dave
rated it: 
Let's begin with the end. The very end. "When your time comes and your whole life flashes before you, will it hold your interest? How much of the story will be about moments of clarity and grace, kindness and caring? Will the main character - you - appear as large and noble as life itself, or as tiny and absurd as a cartoon figure, darting frantically among mountains of stuff? It's up to you, and indeed, it's up to all of us!"
When you read those last words on page 247 of More...
When you read those last words on page 247 of More...
Feb 26, 2009
My favorite quote from this book is from T.S. Eliot: "We are the hollow men. We are the stuffed men" (page 72). This hollowness or emptiness of modern American life, the breaking up of families and communities, the pollution in the environment, according to the authors, is all in large part due to affluenza, "a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more." (pg.2)
I love the id More...
I love the id More...
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Oct 28, 2011
Kressel
rated it: 
In some ways, the message of this book was exactly like all the millionaire/cheapskate books I've been reading recently: spend less and enjoy what you have. The difference is that while the aim of the cheapskate books is to get yourself out of debt so you can get rich, the aim of this book is to reduce consumption in order to save the environment. It's a noble cause, but personally, I'm more motivated to save my bank balance than the world. Perhaps in these days, it's precisely the same thing.
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Aug 19, 2008
Lindsey
rated it:
I loved this book, and the premise that time is more valuable than stuff...people/relationships/community are more important than material possessions...we should use our efficiencies and technological advances to enjoy more time with our family and friends (and connect with ourselves), rather than to produce more more more.
Two days after completing this book, I was driving downtown with my goddaughter (4 years old), when she pointed at a huge billboard with a Dr. Pepper can on it, e More...
Two days after completing this book, I was driving downtown with my goddaughter (4 years old), when she pointed at a huge billboard with a Dr. Pepper can on it, e More...
Jun 16, 2008
Monica
rated it: 
I enjoyed the premise of the book. I've been trying to lead a simpler life for a number of reasons, and this book definitely reinforces why a simpler life may be the answer to many of our current social "afflictions." I gave the book 3 stars because I liked the facts it presents, but I found the illness metaphors to be drawn-out and annoying. I think the book would be stronger if it weren't trying to compare our over-consuming society to the flu at every possible point.
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Mar 06, 2009
Terry Lynn
rated it: 
This is such an important topic but the writing was so bad that I just couldn't bear it. It's WAY too polemical. I'm looking for an analysis of the problem (and found it in _Born To Buy_) but these authors seem more interested in making the reader outraged. Their examples are way over the top exaggerations--usually punctuated with exclamation marks--designed more to hook the emotions than to engage the mind. It reads like a used-car sales pitch or an infomercial with an agenda rather than a seri
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Nov 05, 2007
Matt
rated it:
This book will force you to reexamine your day to day life as an American consumer. This book takes a close look at the consequences and causes of our consumer culture and offers some alternatives to living a life controlled by "stuff". The information contained within may not be anything new to a lot of people, but when it is assembled with their somewhat humorous writing style, it really made me realize how absurd things have become. I liked this book because it didn't seem to hav
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Sep 10, 2010
Margot
rated it:
4 stars for content, 3 stars for the writing. The style is off-puttingly flippant and even sarcastic at some points (I like my nonfiction to be straightforward with at least some pretension toward objectivity). It's quite evident that the book is directly based on the PBS television production, with short-attention-span chunks of factoids. But, the content is very rich and worth slogging through the annoying tone.
My favorite concepts from reading this book, which I'm telling everyone More...
My favorite concepts from reading this book, which I'm telling everyone More...
Apr 16, 2010
Michael
rated it:
I’m not sure why I enjoyed this (slightly) more than The Paradox of Choice that I also recently finished. They both deal with essentially the same issue – we gringos are surrounded by, and thus seduced into acquiring too much junk and the resulting depression from debt and/or the process of wading through endless options harshes our buzz. Perhaps Affluenza’s cartoon illustration inclusions are better? Maybe it’s the goofy “As seen on PBS” cover graphic? At the very least, my favorite/most dismal
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Jan 24, 2010
Erin
rated it:
If I could give this book no stars, I would. It is deeply disturbing that such a tome of complete indoctrination is being passed off as a textbook in our schools. I knew the authors were leftist nuts right from the preface where they apologized for referring to Americans as Americans- hey authors: If someone is from Brazil, they are Brazilian. If someone is from Canada, they are Canadian. Only people from the USA are Americans as we are the only country called America!
The book start More...
The book start More...
Sep 20, 2011
Becca
rated it:
First of all, this book makes more sense if you watch the documentary that it was based on (I watched it on YouTube). Many of the quotes and examples in the book come straight from the documentary, and may have seemed a little out of place otherwise.
I loved the first two-thirds of this book. It really makes you think about the products we buy and why we buy them. Personally I think I've spent less money since reading this book because I'm better able to discern whether I'm buyin More...
I loved the first two-thirds of this book. It really makes you think about the products we buy and why we buy them. Personally I think I've spent less money since reading this book because I'm better able to discern whether I'm buyin More...
Sep 02, 2011
Serena
rated it:
I picked up this book because one quote in particular caught my attention:
"We hear the same refrain all the time from people: I have no life. I get up in the morning, day care, elder care, a 40 minute commute to work. I have to work late. I get home at night, there's laundry, bills to pay, jam something into the microwave. I'm exhausted, I go to sleep, I wake up and this routine begins all over again. This is what life has become in America."
This is something that r More...
"We hear the same refrain all the time from people: I have no life. I get up in the morning, day care, elder care, a 40 minute commute to work. I have to work late. I get home at night, there's laundry, bills to pay, jam something into the microwave. I'm exhausted, I go to sleep, I wake up and this routine begins all over again. This is what life has become in America."
This is something that r More...
Jul 13, 2009
Cendri
rated it:
This book is all about the over-consumption that characterizes (chiefly American) society, and about the havoc this is reaping not only with the environment, but also with our own happiness. The first half of the book is a bit overstated, in that it tries to prove that overconsumption is a problem and links a lot of the economic ills of the last few decades to over-production and consumption using a number of facts that are not necessarily as cut-and-dry as they first seem. I'm not sure that h
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Aug 22, 2011
Jerry
rated it: 
Just finished reading this after seeing it on the libraries sale shelf. The first half of the book would have earned 4 stars from me. Right on... total agreement with a lot of what is stated. Further in though, I found myself getting a bit frustrated with what I would call a left leaning agenda.. global warming, positive affirmation of Marxism, proposing environmental taxes on cars, carbon credits.... things that I think are just going to make guys like Al Gore richer. Maybe he will be able
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Nov 09, 2011
Nikki
rated it:
I checked this book out because it was on a list that appeared, I think, in the Food and Drink issue of the New York Times Magazine. (You'll see many others in my current or recent reading list.) I saw the television documentary on which it was based several years ago, and I have to say that this is one case where the film made its point much better than the book did. This is quite often the case with PBS-type documentaries, but usually the books based on such films at least have a number of ni
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May 10, 2010
Grant
rated it:
A little too simplified although I support the concept of it all.
Example: If you go back to Samuel Johnsons's dictionary of the English language, to consume meant to exhaust, to pillage, to lay waste, to destroy. In fact, even in our granparents' generation, when somebody had tuberculosis, they called it 'consumption.' So up until this century to be a consumer was not to be a good thing, it was considered a bad thing.
Correct me if I am wrong but I think consumption i More...
Example: If you go back to Samuel Johnsons's dictionary of the English language, to consume meant to exhaust, to pillage, to lay waste, to destroy. In fact, even in our granparents' generation, when somebody had tuberculosis, they called it 'consumption.' So up until this century to be a consumer was not to be a good thing, it was considered a bad thing.
Correct me if I am wrong but I think consumption i More...
Sep 12, 2010
Linda
rated it:
If you want a book that changes your entire outlook on a daily trip to the super market or mall this is it. The consumption of americans is so out of hand and gross. This book seems to cross all party lines and just give you the facts. I am a stats kind of girl and this is full of them but he is witty at the same time and really makes you think. Great for couples, Kenny and I have had many talks about how we can cut back, find more time for the family and give in less to the machine called "
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Apr 12, 2010
Anie
rated it:
I liked the book, but found it a bit disappointing. I'd heard very excellent things about it, and it didn't quite live up to par. The writing is a little lackluster -- the authors aren't particularly gifted with prose, and the rhetoric was a little much at times. More importantly, I didn't feel like I'd learned anything by the end of the book. As someone who's been thinking about these issues for a long time, the book felt more like a righteous snobfest than something that really expanded my kno
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Jun 18, 2009
Evan
rated it:
I really liked a lot of this book. I don't identify with the parts about spending beyond your means, but I do identify with spending beyond your needs and simplifying life to focus on things that are really important to you. I found that I would read some of the earlier chapters and think "Yes! Exactly! I can't wait to read their advice on overcoming this issue." The problem is that when I got to the treatment part of the book, all of the advice seemed watered-down and impotent.
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Mar 05, 2010
Tensy
rated it:
The college where I work is using this book as a campus wide reading project and it has led to interesting discussions among the student body. In essence, John De Graaf want us to take a close look at how consumption rules our lives. In Affluenza, he lists ways to do a self-audit of our habits and lifestyles, and then ask ourselves whether our lifestyles are making us happy, and the world a better place to live. He wants us to take note of the diseases and environmental problems caused by an aff
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Nov 26, 2009
Sandra
rated it:
This excellent book treats the values of the American consumer economy and the serious effects of increasing American demand for consumer goods in all their forms--on politics, on families, on the environment. The format, with copious graphics, including chapter and subheadings, inviting spacing, and graphs and charts that are easy to read, makes the book more accessible reading, since the topic is pretty heavy. Informative and provocative, this book will help you clarify your own values, and
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May 04, 2009
Nikkei
rated it:
Although published in 2005, this nonfiction book is still a timely read; the current economic situation may have even heightened this book's relevancy. The book appears to be well-researched, and the authors did a remarkable job in organizing all of the data (the structure of their ongoing analogy certainly helped). I felt as if I was listening to a group of well-informed neighbors having a pleasant discussion, but then I agreed with most of the ideas in the book before I read it. Even so, I
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Jun 08, 2011
Angela
rated it:
Score on the affluenza diagnostic test: embarrassingly high. Even allowing for the "close" answers, which were scored at one point instead of two, I still scored in the high 70's. Which isn't news to me, actually. I know I like stuff, and shopping, and browsing, and many other aspects of our consumer culture. I don't necessarily feel much guilt about it either.
But.
In the past year, I have frequently lamented the dearth of good public transportation in this community More...
But.
In the past year, I have frequently lamented the dearth of good public transportation in this community More...
Nov 14, 2010
Janie
rated it:
Affluenza is a discursive smorgasbord. It has some interesting and useful descriptions and prescriptions (e.g., the 30 hour workweek as implemented by the Kellogg Company from the '30s to the '80s; tax policies that target big spenders on luxury items). But there's too much explored and explained too little.
They're a bit extreme about the causes and effects of the affluenza epidemic. It's the anti-panacea: it causes practically every ill.
I agree with a lot of the general More...
They're a bit extreme about the causes and effects of the affluenza epidemic. It's the anti-panacea: it causes practically every ill.
I agree with a lot of the general More...
Jul 16, 2010
Tamra
rated it:
Excellent book. Or, at least the parts that I liked were excellent. The parts I didnt like, though, were AWFUL. In fact, it was so painful that I skipped about 100 pages, right in the middle of the book.
The book starts with Symptoms of Affluenza. I was going right along with them, nodding in agreement and shouting, "Right on!" every 10 pages. But then some of the comments were weird and frustrating to me. There was very little scholarship in this book, so there would More...
The book starts with Symptoms of Affluenza. I was going right along with them, nodding in agreement and shouting, "Right on!" every 10 pages. But then some of the comments were weird and frustrating to me. There was very little scholarship in this book, so there would More...
Aug 09, 2009
Kelly
rated it:
Everyone in America should read this book.[return:][return:]The authors compare our level of consumption to a disease, hence the title. At first I thought it was just a gimmick, but now I believe our over-consumption truly is a disease that we need to treat and eventually cure.[return:][return:]Bankruptcies and foreclosures are happening at a higher rate than ever before. Our expectations for the size of our houses and cars grow and grow and grow with no signs of slowing down. Just about every m
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Dec 16, 2009
Trena
rated it:
This wasn't a great book; the title was really the best thing about it. I wavered between 2 and 3 stars. Ultimately, the breadth (though not the depth) of the content just barely got it to 3 stars. I did not really enjoy reading it and it took me about three weeks to get through, even though it is neither long nor dense.
It has nothing new to say, although that may be my fault because the first edition was written in 2002 and at that time it may have been new. Now all the informat More...
It has nothing new to say, although that may be my fault because the first edition was written in 2002 and at that time it may have been new. Now all the informat More...
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Mar 18, 2009
Jodi
rated it:
This book was interesting to read in the current economy because it was fascinating peeking into the past when money was flowing, times were good and spending was rampant. Over and over again there were quotes from experts warning that so much of this spending and excess was being suspended by a buoyant economy and if things went downhill, it could be disastrous for so many Americans.
Aside from that I will tell you what I liked and disliked most about this book. The Like: I never th More...
Aside from that I will tell you what I liked and disliked most about this book. The Like: I never th More...
May 07, 2009
Christine
rated it:
I wish there were a three-and-a-half star rating...
What I liked...
It does a good job listing the obsessions of the American consumer. For years, watching the houses spout like mushrooms all over suburban Orlando and the prices of those homes skyrocketing, I wondered where is all this money was coming from and who really needs a 3500 square foot home?
This book does an excellent job highlighting the insatiable need for more, for instant gratification. It revea More...
What I liked...
It does a good job listing the obsessions of the American consumer. For years, watching the houses spout like mushrooms all over suburban Orlando and the prices of those homes skyrocketing, I wondered where is all this money was coming from and who really needs a 3500 square foot home?
This book does an excellent job highlighting the insatiable need for more, for instant gratification. It revea More...
Jan 28, 2008
Wellington
rated it:
It’s more than a book … it’s a disease. Affluenza is a largely modern disease when people are consumed with the idea of consuming. Does this sound like anyone you know?
The book was written around November 2000 and is still very true today. Fun, witty, and filled with illustrations from Pulitzer Prize Winner, David Horsey, this book takes aim at our growing culture of consumerism. Nowadays, we just have so much stuff … or is it junk?
The book divides into three parts: sympt More...
The book was written around November 2000 and is still very true today. Fun, witty, and filled with illustrations from Pulitzer Prize Winner, David Horsey, this book takes aim at our growing culture of consumerism. Nowadays, we just have so much stuff … or is it junk?
The book divides into three parts: sympt More...
