StuffISBN: 978-0-7456-4424-0
Paperback
220 pages
December 2009, Polity
Other Available Formats: Hardcover
|
Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford
"[Stuff] really is a little gem. Timely, well-written and
highly accessible, it is a concise and grounded resource in the
struggle to analyse the complexities of contemporary cultural life
... For undergraduates and general critical readers alike, it will
be a welcome and thought-provoking reminder that the material world
of things we have created, and which in turn helps to create us,
needs to be understood dialectically - for better and for
worse."
Times Higher Education
"[T]here are fascinating things here: a seven-page description
of how a woman who wears a sari navigates daily life through the
garment; a portrait of council tenants as "artists" redecorating
their flats in different ways; and analyses of fashion, furnishing
and "mobile phone relationships" in Jamaica. When Miller is focused
on the details, the writing hums with empathetic colour and
detail."
The Guardian
"This is a unique book that comes from a unique scholar. In this
one volume, one can see the power of material culture as a means to
study culture and society more generally. The specifics are
informative and the larger formulations profound. The writing is
consistently clear - at times, endearing - and the content
brilliant."
Harvey Molotch, New York University
"This book fizzes and sparkles with ideas and intelligence.
Professor Miller develops his dialectical theory of material
culture with enviable clarity. Readers are encouraged by his
captivating style and lightly-worn scholarship to the frontiers of
the subject: they will never look at their stuff in the same way
again."
Ray Pahl, University of Essex