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Authenticity

Authenticity

Brands, Fakes, Spin and the Lust for Real Life

by David Boyle
Paperback
Publication Date: 01/11/2004

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David Boyle guides us through the next big thing in Western living - the determined rejection of the fake, the virtual, the spun and the mass-produced, in the search for authenticity.
The charms of the global and virtual future we were all brought up to expect, where meals would be eaten in the form of pills and machines would do all our work, have worn rather thin. It's not that we don't want all the advantages of progress, we just want a future that manages to be local and real too.

Tracking the struggle for reality from Japanese theme parks to mock-Tudor villas and from Byron to Big Brother, 'Authenticity' explains where our reactions against spin and fakeness come from - and where they are going. The current revival of real food, real business, real culture flies in the face of expert opinion from politicians, economists, advertisers and big business - and they're having to run to keep up as our hype attention-span gets ever shorter.

Optimistic, witty, highly thought-provoking and packed with fascinating stories, Boyle's search asks whether coolness is dead, how real reality is and whether realpolitik can ever change into real politics. He puts authenticity firmly on the map, lifting the lid on all the other symptoms of this powerful new phenomenon - revealing the unexpected force that looks set to change all our lives.
ISBN:
9780007179640
9780007179640
Category:
Social & cultural anthropology
Format:
Paperback
Publication Date:
01-11-2004
Language:
English
Publisher:
HarperCollins Publishers
Country of origin:
United Kingdom
Pages:
352
Dimensions (mm):
198x129x20mm
Weight:
0.24kg
David Boyle

David Boyle is the author of several books about history, the history of ideas and the future. His Authenticity: Brands, Fakes, Spin and the Lust for Real Life helped put the search for authenticity on the agenda as a social phenomenon, while Funny Money: In Search of Alternative Cash launched the 'time banks movement' in the UK.

His work on the history and future of money has also been published in many books and pamphlets. He has stood for Parliament and undertaken an independent review for the UK Treasury and Cabinet Office.

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