'No Logo' was a book that defined a generation when it was first published in 1999. For it's 10th anniversay Naomi Klein has updated this iconic book. By the time you're twenty-one, you'll have seen or heard a million advertisements. But you won't be happier for it. This is a book about that much-maligned, much-misunderstood generation coming up behind the slackers, who are being intelligent and active about the world in which they find themselves. It is a world in which all that is 'alternative' is sold, where any innovation or subversion is immediately adopted by un-radical, faceless corporations. But, gradually, tentatively, a new generation is beginning to fight consumerism with its own best weapons; and it is the first skirmishes in this war that this abrasively intelligent book documents brilliantly.

About the Author

Naomi Klein is a Canadian writer and journalist. 'No Logo' is an international bestseller and has helped define a new generation of young activists.

Reviews

YA-In this examination of the style and substance of "branded life," a young Canadian journalist presents her thesis in a highly entertaining style. In chapters such as "Alt.everything: The Youth Market and the Marketing of Cool," Klein shows how advertising exploits teens (17 is the optimum age) and points out marketing tactics and trends. As the advertising industry has evolved to become a major shaper of culture, a sea change in corporate climate has transformed companies from producers of products to purveyors of image and dreams. Brand names such as Gap, Nike, or Tommy Hilfiger have come to have "talismanic power" for many in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. However, the author reveals the disturbing economic realities underlying the production of these magic products-often through the stories of the young people who work to produce them. The final chapters describe individual and community activities in the arts, politics, and courts in the pursuit of human rights and other values. For readers who want to know more about what lies behind street demonstrations recently in the news, or for those who are ready to rise above being manipulated, this title provides an excellent model of how to think critically about contemporary culture.-Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

'The Das Kapital of the growing anti-corporate movement' Guardian 'A riveting, conscientious piece of journalism and a strident call to arms. Packed with enlightening statistics and extraordinary anecdotal evidence, "No Logo" is fluent, undogmatically alive to its contradictions and omissions and positively seethes with intelligent anger.' Sam Leith, Observer 'A fascinating ride through the history of marketing!Klein brilliantly humanises "No Logo" with fascinating personal stories, her voice firm but never preachy, her argument detailed but never obscure.' Alex O'Connell, The Times 'Naomi Klein brilliantly charts the protean nature of consumer capitalism, how it absorbs radical challenges to its dominance and turns them into consumer products.' Madeleine Bunting, Guardian 'A sharp and very timely book ! A couple of chapters in, your mind is already reeling ! convincing and necessary, clear and fresh, calm but unsparing' Guardian 'A manifesto and a call to arms that sometimes reads like an Orwellian nightmare' Financial Times

In the global economy, all the world's a marketing opportunity. From this elemental premise, freelance journalist and Toronto Star columnist Klein methodically builds an angry and funny case against branding in general and several large North American companies in particular, notably Gap, Microsoft and Starbucks. Looking around her, Klein finds that the breathless promise of the information ageÄthat it would be a time of consumer choice and interactive communicationÄhas not materialized. Instead, huge corporations that present themselves as lifestyle purveyors rather than mere product manufacturers dominate the airwaves, physical space and cyberspace. Worse, Klein argues, these companies have harmed not just the culture but also workersÄand not just in the Third World but also in the U.S., where companies rely on temps because they'd rather invest in marketing than in labor. In the latter sections, Klein describes a growing backlash embodied by the guerrilla group Reclaim the Streets, which turns busy intersections into spaces for picnics and political protest. Her tour of the branded world is rife with many perverse examples of how corporate names penetrate all aspects of life (who knew there was a K-Mart Chair of Marketing at Wayne State University?). Mixing an activist's passion with sophisticated cultural commentary, Klein delivers some elegant formulations: "Free speech is meaningless if the commercial cacophony has risen to the point where no one can hear you." Charts and graphs not seen by PW. Agent, Westwood Creative Artists. (Jan.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.