What do consumers really want? In the mid-twentieth century, many marketing executives sought to answer this question by looking to the theories of Sigmund Freud and his followers. By the 1950s, Freud
The American Way of Life is a cultural history of the American Way of Life (or more simply the American Way). The book argues that since the term was popularized in the 1930s, the American Way has ser
"An overdue and well-deserved encomium to a largely denigrated chapter in [New York] city's history"---The New York Times"Samuel has a warm and conversational tone as he journeys back to the 1964-65 w
Belief in supernatural phenomena is prevalent in the US. Samuel a consultant and the author of several cultural histories presents a balanced examination of the factors and personalities behind this t
The American writer—both real and fictitious, famous and obscure—has traditionally been situated on the margins of society, an outsider looking in. From The Great Gatsby’s Nick Carraway to the million
What is happiness? How do we measure it? How do we achieve it? Is anyone truly happy? This work looks at happiness in America—what it meant in the past, what it means now, and how it might be ac
While it is impossible to know what the future holds, trends and changes can be predicted to some measure. Here, Larry Samuel looks at what may come, offering those who seek a greater understanding of
The future is not a fixed idea but a highly variable one that reflects the values of those who are imagining it. By studying the ways that visionaries imagined the future--particularly that of Americ
American history is ubiquitous, underscoring everything from food to travel to architecture and design. It is also emotionally charged, frequently crossing paths with political and legal issues. InRem
Anti-aging is a preoccupation shared by beauty bloggers, serious journalists, scientists, doctors, celebrities—arguably all of adult America, given the crusade's pervasiveness in popular culture and t
DEATH, AMERICAN STYLE: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF DYING IN AMERICA is the first comprehensive cultural history to explore America’s uneasy relationship with death over the past century.
“Psychology has stepped down from the university chair into the marketplace” was how the New York Times put it in 1926. Another commentator in 1929 was more biting. Psychoanalysis, he said, had over a
