First time in paperback: "An exhilarating collection by a brilliant writer a penetrating observer of things so familiar that they're in danger of not being noticed "-Steven Millhauser Call it an encyclopedia of low-brow aesthetics In Cute, Quaint, Hungry and Romantic, the writer whom Steven Millhauser called "the most original оззгю essayist since George Orwell" examines with devastating wit and in a style distinctly his own the contagious appeal of that which is not art, the uses of the useless, the politics of product design and advertising Here is a psychic voyage into the aesthetic unconscious of the consumer, as well as "the perfect companion for any foray through Restoration Hardware or the freezer compartment at Dean & DeLuca" (Village Voice Literary Supplement) From teddy bears to Mars Bars to Leonardo DiCaprio, this is the refuse of consumerism unflinchingly-and very entertainingly-observed.  RappeneISBN 0306810476.