Where Stuff Comes From: How Toasters, Toilets, Cars, Computers and Many Other Things Come To Be As They Are

No toaster is an island. In fact, as Harvey Molotch demonstrates in this sparkling tour of how things are created, the everyday objects of our life are a delicate and clever intermingling of design, timing and functionality that mirrors contemporary life. Where Stuff Comes From is about paper clips, post-its, bathtubs, cars and all the other stuff in our lives. It is about how these items were imagined into existence and made a part of the American material culture. From the designer to the manufacturer to the business owner to the consumer, Molotch guides us through the worlds of technology, design, corporate culture and popular culture, giving us a sense of how and why we want stuff. He rolls up his sleeves and goes behind the scenes at trade shows and in design studios to speak with the product-makers who gave us the world's best-selling garlic press, the Nike swoosh and Volkswagen's resurrected Beetle. A witty and surprising voyage into the aesthetic unconscious of the consumer, Where Stuff Comes From probes the meaning of the objects in our lives and what our possessions say about us. Ultimately, Molotch opens a fascinating window into our economy, society and culture by unlocking the complex strategies behind simple things.

Table of Contents:
Preface. Acknowledgements. 1. Lash-Ups: Goods and Bads 2. Inside Stuff: How Professionals Do It 3. Form and Function 4. Changing Goods 5. Venues and Middlemen 6. Place in Product 7. Corporate Organization and the Design Big Thing 8. Moral Rules: New for Old

Review :
"Successful products must fit into the whole panoply of life and society. The whole story can only be told by someone with a grand view of things, who sees both the trees of design and manufacturing and the forest of the social and political forces upon all of us. Three cheers for Harvey Molotch-this is a great book." -Donald A. Norman, author of "The Design of Everyday Things "With great originality, Molotch has created a sociology of objects, seen as the product of the joint work of many people, especially designers. With this in hand, he brings new perspectives to old debates about consumerism and creativity." -Howard S. Becker, author of "Art Worlds "This is an engaging and enjoyable book about the design of everyday things. Harvey Molotch tells us what design is, who designers are, where design happens, and how society, culture, geography, the marketplace, and just about everything else imaginable all contribute to making things look and work the way they do." -Henry Petroski, author of "The Pencil and "The Evolution of Useful Things "Human beings like stuff. We like to make, steal, hoard, and especially use things. How these goods come to be, how they are designed, manufactured, distributed, and especially used to make meaning is the central concern of industrial society. "Where Stuff Comes From is a superb introduction to exactly how this process works...or doesn't. It's MUST reading for anyone interested in the power of the manufactured world." -James B. Twitchell, author of "Living It Up: Why We Love "Superb, a witty and verbally pyrotechnical book. "Where Stuff Comes From is deeply subversive and revolutionizes our thinking aboutconsumerism." -Jules Lubbock, author of "The Tyranny of Taste