OK | The Total Package: The Evolution and Secret Meanings of Boxes, Bottles, Cans, and Tubes

book: The Total Package: The Evolution and Secret Meanings of Boxes, Bottles, Cans, and Tubes | Thomas Hine

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	• The Total Package: The Evolution and Secret Meanings of Boxes, Bottles, Cans, and Tubes Thomas Hine Little Brown and Company, 1995 - 289 pages average customer review:based on 2 reviews view larger image
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A "good" book....

Hine, as he demonstrated in "Populuxe" which is a bit of a classic at this point, has a good feel for an uncommon general topic. What he kind of lacks is intense depth and profound insight, and I don't think he sees that as his job, and thank-you to him. He generally conveys (and well) his delight in the interesting details about a subject. Placed alongside a lot of the overwrought and highly judgemental contemporary books on cultural subjects, Hine's efforts might seem featherweight. Then again, beside some French-critical-theory-driven Inquisition of Minutiae (Lisa Mahar's troglodytic, "American Signs," trundles into view in my mind's eye) Hobbes's "Leviathan" has an almost "Dick and Jane" delicacy.

So, if you're doing research into your college paper proving why Western Consumer Culture stinks this be a bad book for you. If you're like me and enjoy good books on subjects like this you'll probably be glad you spent the bucks. I just wish Hine would stop feeling obliged to work in (as he does here toward the end, and even at the tail of "Populuxe") a gratuitous bit of social relevancy. It drops the upbeat tone of the book a notch--that's why four instead of five stars.

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Maybe I expected too much, but promised more than delivered. Informative, but felt as though could have been more so. Still, for this niche, it's probably the only game in town. Worth a go if you can make the time

Exploring the evolution of packaging throughout history with an eye to the profound and absurd, a cultural critic describes the exploits of hucksters, psychologists, and engineers who have made the modern American package a dominant form of commercialism. 17,500 first printing.