Overview

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. In the hierarchy of foods, snacks are deemed trivial – perhaps even childish – especially in contrast to meals, which are seen as substantial and necessary. The multiple aisles devoted to sweet and savory treats in supermarkets, and the availability of snacks even at places like home improvement and department stores, speak to the popularity of snacking. But the ubiquity of snacks is relatively new and not common to all countries. Eurie Dahn traces the story of snacking culture through specific snacks, including Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, cheese crackers, and Choco Pies, and in the contexts of ethnicity, popular culture, diet culture, and even parenting. Snack is an idiosyncratic cultural history that offers surprisingly filling food for thought.

Full Product Details

9798765108840

Table of Contents

Reviews

This tempting morsel of a book invites you to consider the history, culture, and even theory of those little bites we snatch between meals. Dah's lively storytelling and digestible research invite us to slow down and take a hard look at that aisle full of temptations at the convenience store. With her help, we now see behind the colorful packages a surprising history of food, leisure, and pleasure. * Sean Latham, Director, Oklahoma Center for the Humanities, USA *

Author Information

Eurie Dahn is author of Jim Crow Networks: African American Periodical Cultures (2021) and co-editor of an edition of Pauline E. Hopkins's Of One Blood (2022).

Tab Content 6

Countries Available