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OverviewTATE BOOK OF THE MONTH 2023 A timely critique of consumer culture which captures this image-obsessed moment in history, perfect for fans of Zadie Smith's Feel Free and Jia Tolentino's Trick Mirror. This book is not a taste, nor an anti-taste, manual. This is an interrogation of the importance we place on seemingly objective ideas of taste in a culture that is saturated by imagery, and the dangerous impact this has on our identities, communities and politics. This book is dedicated to understanding the industries of taste. From the food we eat to the way we spend our free time, Olah exposes the shallow waters of 'good' and 'bad' taste and the rigid hierarchies that uphold this age-old dichotomy. How did minimalism become a virtue, and who can afford to do it justice? When did blue-collar jackets become a fashion item? Who stands to gain from the distinction made between beauty, and sex? Bold, original and provocative, Bad Taste is a revelatory exploration of the intersection between consumerism, class, desire and power, and a rousing call-to-arms to break free from the restrictive ways we see those around us. 'This is a timely book, written in prose that just slips past you, in an informed and conversational manner . . . I enjoyed Bad Taste immensely.' Sheena Patel, The Standard 'Nathalie Olah is one of the sharpest social critics of the post-crash era and Bad Taste doesn't disappoint.' Sarah Jaffe Full Product DetailsAuthor: Nathalie OlahPublisher: Dialogue Imprint: Dialogue Books Dimensions: Width: 14.20cm , Height: 2.60cm , Length: 21.80cm Weight: 0.410kg ISBN: 9780349702261ISBN 10: 0349702268 Pages: 240 Publication Date: 09 November 2023 Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Tertiary & Higher Education , Professional & Vocational Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In stock  We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately. Table of ContentsReviews"Nathalie Olah is one of the sharpest social critics of the post-crash era and Bad Taste doesn't disappoint. At once vulnerable and biting, Olah lays bare the ways in which ""culture war"" is submerged and prettified class war. She reminds us that capitalism, far from giving us what we want, conditions us to accept a narrowed view of what is possible, lulling us to forego pleasure and connection in favour of austerity and toil. * Sarah Jaffe, author of Work Won't Love You Back * Olah is Britain's foremost culture writer. * Vicky Spratt, author of Tenants * Provocative, vital and rigorously argued . . . Bad Taste deftly moves between aesthetics and politics, the playful and the polemical, with a nuanced attention to power and meaning in everything from a fake Renoir painting to Frasier Crane's fluffy hair . . . I finished Bad Taste with a sense of joy and possibility, witness to the thorough dismantling of a set of sexist, racist and classist criteria which have long put a limit on society's self-expression and desires. * Rebecca Birrell, author of This Dark Country * Bad Taste is a searing polemic about the ways that money, power and social class shape our lives. But Olah is just as sharp when it comes to critiquing aesthetic trends, and the book is also a witty, erudite and engaging history of food, fashion, interior design and other forms of visual culture. Like much of the best political writing, it makes complex ideas accessible without ever dumbing them down. * James Greig, editor at Dazed * Nathalie Olah is one of the most interesting, creative and vital critical minds of her generation. Bad Taste is a gorgeous dissection of the culture we live in. * Camilla Grudova, author of Children of Paradise * A terrifically clear sighted and often very funny interrogation of the oddities of 'taste' and its political implications. * Francisco Garcia, author of We All Go Into the Dark * Bad Taste is a funny, punchy, kaleidoscopic page-turner that pulls at the tangled threads of class, commerce and culture until they start to unspool, and then just keeps yanking. * The Skinny * [Bad Taste has] really changed how I think about so much of what I considered every day, trivial and yet innately accepted parts of culture . . . An incredibly lucid view of a confused world. -- Tom Usher Olah proves an astute and acidic commentator. -- Richard Godwin * The Guardian *" "Nathalie Olah is one of the sharpest social critics of the post-crash era and Bad Taste doesn't disappoint. At once vulnerable and biting, Olah lays bare the ways in which ""culture war"" is submerged and prettified class war. She reminds us that capitalism, far from giving us what we want, conditions us to accept a narrowed view of what is possible, lulling us to forego pleasure and connection in favour of austerity and toil. * Sarah Jaffe, author of Work Won't Love You Back * A light but, also, serious and searing dive into who decides what is hot and what is not from Britain's foremost culture writer. * Vicky Spratt, author of Tenants * Provocative, vital and rigorously argued . . . Bad Taste deftly moves between aesthetics and politics, the playful and the polemical, with a nuanced attention to power and meaning in everything from a fake Renoir painting to Frasier Crane's fluffy hair . . . I finished Bad Taste with a sense of joy and possibility, witness to the thorough dismantling of a set of sexist, racist and classist criteria which have long put a limit on society's self-expression and desires. * Rebecca Birrell, author of This Dark Country * Bad Taste is a searing polemic about the ways that money, power and social class shape our lives. But Olah is just as sharp when it comes to critiquing aesthetic trends, and the book is also a witty, erudite and engaging history of food, fashion, interior design and other forms of visual culture. Like much of the best political writing, it makes complex ideas accessible without ever dumbing them down. * James Greig, editor at Dazed * Nathalie Olah is one of the most interesting, creative and vital critical minds of her generation. Bad Taste is a gorgeous dissection of the culture we live in. * Camilla Grudova, author of Children of Paradise * A terrifically clear sighted and often very funny interrogation of the oddities of 'taste' and its political implications. * Francisco Garcia, author of We All Go Into the Dark *" "Nathalie Olah is one of the sharpest social critics of the post-crash era and Bad Taste doesn't disappoint. At once vulnerable and biting, Olah lays bare the ways in which ""culture war"" is submerged and prettified class war. She reminds us that capitalism, far from giving us what we want, conditions us to accept a narrowed view of what is possible, lulling us to forego pleasure and connection in favour of austerity and toil. * Sarah Jaffe, author of Work Won't Love You Back * A light but, also, serious and searing dive into who decides what is hot and what is not from Britain's foremost culture writer. * Vicky Spratt, author of Tenants * Provocative, vital and rigorously argued . . . Bad Taste deftly moves between aesthetics and politics, the playful and the polemical, with a nuanced attention to power and meaning in everything from a fake Renoir painting to Frasier Crane's fluffy hair . . . I finished Bad Taste with a sense of joy and possibility, witness to the thorough dismantling of a set of sexist, racist and classist criteria which have long put a limit on society's self-expression and desires. * Rebecca Birrell, author of This Dark Country *" Author InformationNathalie Olah is a journalist and cultural critic whose writing is published by the New Statesman, Guardian, TLS, Five Dials, Jacobin and Tribune. She holds a BA in English Literature from Oxford and an MA in Postcolonial Studies from the University of Sussex. In 2015, she moved to the Netherlands to work for a research organisation adjacent to the Dutch government. She credits witnessing the humiliation of the Greek people by EU bureaucrats, along with the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis in Britain, as shaping her politics and the disillusionment with neoliberal economics. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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