Ad Nauseam

I thought the title of this book sounded intriguing: Ad Nauseam: A Survior's Guide to American Consumer Culture.

Apparently it's a compilation of content from a magazine called Stay Free!, which started as a music magazine, but has morphed into a satirical critique of, you guessed it, America's consumer culture.

I found most of the book interesting - especially the part about how children view commercials. However, after reading several hundred pages about advertising, our consumer culture and the latest techniques advertising agencies are using to get inside consumers' heads, I had to put it down. I felt like the book was continuing on and on and on, ad nauseum (ha!).

The last couple of sections of the book I just skimmed or skipped. Overall, I found the book interesting, but a bit overwhelming. I can see how digesting culture critique in a magazine form is much more palatable, than in book form.