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The Comfort of Things
Daniel Miller (Author)
9780745644042, Polity Press
Paperback / softback, published 22 May 2009
300 pages
22.6 x 15 x 1.8 cm, 0.431 kg
"Miller's moving account...is a stout defence of that pejorative notion: 'only sentimental value.'He builds up a tapestry of the variety of ways in which people use things to express themselves and make meaning in their lives. The nondescript, the ordinary can be invested with great value." "An outstanding piece of work: a fine example of modern anthropological fieldwork, a powerful corrective to the banal notion that materialism is synonymous with excessive individualism and, perhaps above all, an informed, sensitive, and wholly sympathetic guide to the human diversity to be found through the keyholes of our capital city." "This book sums up how far social anthropology has progressed since Henry Mayhew wrote about the skull shapes of costermongers in the 19th century." "[I]t would be an injustice to Daniel Miller and to the exquisite text he has crafted to describe The Comfort of Things as anything less than beautifully written ... This particular book opens up a variety of avenues for exploration, and serves as a reminder of what sociologists can learn from such rich anthropological research." "This is social anthropology at its finest." "This is the very best kind of micro-ethnography. Miller writes better - and with more insight and compassion - than most novelists. This book will profoundly change the way you look at your friends' and neighbours' homes and possessions - and indeed your own." "I am so impressed by Danny Miller's book. It is so keenly felt and beautifully written, it provides as deep a view of modern Londoners as early anthropologists tried to provide of residents of more distant and exotic zones. Miller has produced a marvelously personal and creative work, provoking us to wonder at the extraordinary attachments of ordinary people. This is a great and lasting achievement." "Through shoe leather fieldwork, human empathy, and unflinching readiness to discern, Daniel Miller shows the central role of material culture in contemporary urban life. An instant classic." "An artful antidote to continually demonised consumerism." "A timely reminder that investing possessions with meaning is proof of humanity rather than inhumanity." "In this remarkable book Daniel Miller provides an illuminating portrait of people's relations to the ordinary objects that surround them. The result is a surprising meditation on how we all maintain order in our daily lives." "This book offers a bold and creative model for how we might go about the work of theorising and abstracting, trying to tell more or less convincing stories about the 'relationships which flow constantly between people and things'."
The Guardian
Laurie Taylor, The Independent
"A wonderful and unusual antidote to the fear that humanity and individuality is losing its battle with modern consumerism. In his book, even the most trivial product of consumerism can be rendered almost magical by its owners."
Financial Times
New Statesman
"A set of delicately drawn pen portraits of lives in a single, unnamed South London street ... this is a book quite out of the ordinary. While you read these pages, this is the street where you live."
Times Literary Supplement
British Journal of Sociology
Steven Carroll, The Age
Kate Fox, Social Issues Research Centre and author of Watching the English
Sharon Zukin, Brooklyn College
Mitchell Duneier, Princeton University
Crafts Magazine
Blueprint
Viviana Zelizer, Princeton University
Environment and Planning D: Society and Space
Wer und vor allem wie lebt man in London heute? In 30 brillanten Porträts erfährt der Leser ganz intime Details, durchlebt selbst alle Höhen und Tiefen der Protagonisten und erhält einen umfassenden Einblick in das 'Wesen der Menschen' aus Sicht eines Anthropologen.
Acknowledgements. Prologue. Portrait 1 Empty. Portrait 2 Full. Portrait 3 A Porous Vessel. Portrait 4 Starry Green Plastic Ducks. Portrait 5 Learning Love. Portrait 6 The Aboriginal Laptop. Portrait 7 Home and Homeland. Portrait 8 Tattoo. Portrait 9 Haunted. Portrait 10 Talk to the Dog. Portrait 11 Tales from the Publicans. Portrait 12 Making a Living. Portrait 13 McDonald's Truly Happy Meals. Portrait 14 The Exhibitionist. Portrait 15 Re-Birth. Portrait 16 Strength of Character. Portrait 17 Heroin. Portrait 18 Shi. Portrait 19 Brazil 2 England 2. Portrait 20 A Thousand Places to See before You Die. Portrait 21 Rosebud. Portrait 22 The Orientalist. Portrait 23 Sepia. Portrait 24 An Unscripted Life. Portrait 25 Oh Sod It!. Portrait 26 José and José's Wife. Portrait 27 Wrestling. Portrait 28 The Carpenter. Portrait 29 Things That Bright Up the Place. Portrait 30 Home Truths. Epilogue: If This is Modern Life – Then What is That?. Appendix: The Study
Subject Areas: Archaeology [HD]
