In the "old" Gilded Age, the barons of business accumulated vast wealth and influence from their railroads, steel mills, and banks. But today it is culture that stands at the heart of the American enterprise, mass entertainment the economic dynamo that brings the public into the consuming fold and consolidates the power of business over the American mind. For a decade The Baffler has been the invigorating voice of dissent against these developments, in the grand tradition of the muckrakers and The American Mercury. This collection gathers the best of its writing to explore such peculiar developments as the birth of the rebel hero as consumer in the pages of Wired and Details; the ever-accelerating race to market youth culture; the rise of new business gurus like Tom Peters and the fad for Hobbesian corporate "reengineering"; and the encroachment of advertising and commercial enterprise into every last nook and cranny of American life. With its liberating attitude and cant-free intelligence, this book is a powerful polemic against the designs of the culture business on us all. Tom Frank and Matt Weiland are the editor in chief and managing editor, respectively, of The Baffler. They both live in New York City.

Business and the American Mind, a national lecture and discussion series organized by the Baffler magazine (October - November 1997)

"You'd have to look back at the fights between New York intellectuals in the fifties to find the sort of verbal firepower unleashed here." --Nation

Introduction
Opening Salvo: The New Gilded Age, Thomas Frank
Part I. The Rebel Consumer

Why Johnny Can't Dissent, Thomas Frank
The Killer App: Wired Magazine, Voice of the Corporate Revolution, Keith White
Back in Black: Here Come the Beatniks!, Maura Mahoney
Burn Down the House of Commons in Your Brand New Shoes, Keith White
Consolidated Deviance, Inc., Thomas Frank and Dave Mulcahey

Part II. The Culture of Business

Apostles of the New Entrepreneur: Business Books and the Management Crisis, Bill Boisvert
I've Seen the Future--and It's a Sony!, Stephen Duncombe
The Time-Management Gospel, Jennifer Brostrom
Leadership and You, Dave Mulcahey
The Advertised Life, Tom Vanderbilt

Part III. The CulturetrustTM Generation

Alternative to What?, Thomas Frank
What Is Alternative?, Chris Holmes
The Problem with Music, Steve Albini
The Packaging of a Literary Persona, Maura Mahoney
A Dream of Perfect Reception: The Movies of Quentin Tarantino, Gary Groth
Twenty-Nothing, Thomas Frank and Keith White
Harsh Realm, Mr. Sulzberger!, Thomas Frank

Part IV. Wealth against Commonwealth Revisited

Twentieth Century Lite, Thomas Frank
Post-Urban, Post-Industrial but Never Post-Elite, Edward Castleton
Revolt of the Nice: Edge City, Capital of the Twenty-First Century, Tom Vanderbilt
Lotteryville, USA, Kim Phillips
The Gaudy and Damned, Tom Vanderbilt

Closing Salvo: Dark Age, Thomas Frank
Contributors
Index
About The Baffler