Product Description

Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves – and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives – and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are. With its wry portrayal of a shallow, materialistic ‘leisure class’ obsessed by clothes, cars, consumer goods and climbing the social ladder, this withering satire on modern capitalism is as pertinent today as when it was written over a century ago.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #96871 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

About the Author
Thorstein Bunde Veblen (1857-1929) was an American economist and sociologist. Educated at Carleton College, Johns Hopkins University and Yale University, his most famous work, The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), from which this selection is taken, is a satiric look at American society. He coined the widely used phrases "conspicuous consumption" and "pecuniary emulation".

Customer Reviews

Fabulous insight into the survival of barbarous cultural forms into the present
Well, I'm getting caught up with his style. But this was a thoroughly enjoyable read, despite the occasional tricky language. It provoked lots of interesting thoughts, including why professional services companies like my own seem to value sales people so much, even though their job appears to require no particular intellectual or personal qualities -- because, like hunters, warriors and priests they interact with the world of unpredictability and hazard, rather just making boring stuff happen like producers.

Highly recommended