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Affluenza |  | Author: Oliver James
Publisher: Vermilion
Category: Book
List Price: £8.99
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Seller: World of Books Ltd
Rating:  81 reviews
Sales Rank: 5739
Media: Paperback
Pages: 592
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 1.7
ISBN: 0091900115
EAN: 9780091900113
ASIN: 0091900115
Publication Date: June 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Product Description
There is an epidemic of 'affluenza' throughout the world - an obsessive, envious - that has resulted in huge increases in depression and anxiety among millions. This book aims to uncover the answer to how to reconnect with what really matters and learn to value what you've already got. It shows how to be successful and stay sane.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 81
 Influenza September 6, 2010
Natalu
Quick delivery and book in very good condition. Have not read the book yet. Thank you.
Don't shoot the messenger June 13, 2008
A Reader (London)
11 out of 15 found this review helpful
This book is written in a very personal style, and the author may not be to everyone's taste (as he frequently isn't to mine), but to evaluate it on the basis of the quality of the prose or even of the analysis is to miss the point. This book has a view of life that I took for granted as a teenager, but that slowly withered over twenty years of insidious peer pressure. It questions unstated assumptions that underpin so many of the messages that are blared at us constantly from advertising, newspapers, tv, movies. Even if James' policy recommendations are not always sensible, their heart is in the right place, and I seriously hope that enough people will read, absorb and transmit his message that some day we will be able, collectively, to kick some of the habits that are preventing us from turning the incredible wealth of modern western society into real happiness.
Though it is funny when he wonders what John Lennon would have to say to George Orwell about a certain country club. I mean, John Lennon was a pop star. I'd rather hear what George Orwell would have said.
Ignore the negative reviews - I think they're on someone's payroll! August 19, 2009
C. Mahoney (London)
18 out of 25 found this review helpful
I seriously think that some of the reviews on here are written by people on the payroll of some of the companies which would lose out if everyone were to read Affluenza. Protecting revenue is probably their primary concern rather than reviewing a seriously good book.
I've encouraged people I know to read Affluenza, and they've all come away being moved/affected by the book.
You need to read this book with an open mind, and not being defensive of some of the lifestyle habits that you probably have which the book will take apart. If you are a parent, I'd be wholly surprised if the book didn't offend you in some ways as the chances are that it will criticise the manner of parenting that you use(d). But that doesn't make what he's saying wrong.
Oliver James approaches this book with a definite aim - that's fair to say, and it comes across. But his evidence is solid, anyone who doubts the evidential basis of the book shouldn't come on here writing negative comments about the argument without having first looked at it's companion book The Selfish Capitalist, which outlines the scientific basis behind his views as expressed here.
I came away from reading this book with at least two major thoughts in mind; 1. Why do I buy unnecessary things? and 2. What has gone wrong with the way we bring up children here in the UK?
If you come away with renewed vigour to do something about the above two things (if not on a wider scale then just individually) then I suspect that Oliver James will have achieved his aims. This applies irrespective of whether you like James' writing style or maybe don't agree with everything he says, like some of his more political suggestions.
In my opinion this is a superb book, which will inform my views for years to come. I've discussed/argued about a lot of what's raised in this book with many people, but few can deny James' central points.
Read this book. If you're a parent or a avid shopper, it will likely offend, but try to be open minded.
the suffering rich August 25, 2007
Jeremy Williams (Luton)
12 out of 18 found this review helpful
An intriguing piece of sociology, based in real life stories, Affluenza sees Oliver James on something of a world tour, interviewing people about their attitudes, their aspirations, and their sense of worth. The results are often depressing - incredibly privileged people with no idea how privileged they are. The underlying fact behind the book is that the wealthier the nation is in the American model of capitalism, the more prone its citizens will be to 'emotional distress' - eating disorders, depression, and so on.
James has researched this well, and draws in all kinds of supporting material, linking emotional distress with television, advertising, house prices, and comparing between countries all the way through. Best of all, he finds some places that are different, places that are rich and still sane, and those places offer some hope to those of us elsewhere.
The book is not without its faults, as you may gather from the feedback here. (and I'm giving it five stars partly to redress the balance). It's too long, a bit rambling, and it doesn't back up all its theories. But don't let that deter you. The message is important, and the bits that are good are worth hanging in their for. And if you need the research, pick up The Selfish Capitalist for more detail.
I'd also recommend Alain de Botton's 'Status Anxiety', another book that punctures some of the big lies of our consumer society.
A plea for sanity February 7, 2010
The Less Deceived (London)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Of course, those on the market-minded right hate this book (just read some of these rabid reviews), but they would - because James convincingly shows them to be worshipping false gods. James's thesis is quite simple: consumer society is set up to make us unhappy and dissatisfied. Of course it is: unhappiness and dissatisfaction are what drive a market economy. If we were all happy and satisfied, we'd stop being consumers. Heaven forfend.
Amazingly, some people complain that he doesn't have enough "evidence" for his thesis. This is total nonsense - and the desperate response of those who have no real counter-argument. Just look at the appendices at the back: he cites pages and pages and pages of studies and learned papers. How much evidence do you want?
The book isn't perfect. His style sometimes wobbles and some of his sub-analyses are less than water-tight. But in its overall momentum, it's a compelling and humane plea for a reappraisal of our values in societies that are set up to make happiness all but impossible.
All the evidence suggests that we're richer and more miserable than ever before. This important and groundbreaking book goes some way towards telling us why. Read it.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 81
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