Measured Excess: Status, Gender, and Consumer Nationalism in South Korea

This very entertaining illuminated a developing country's discovery of consumerism. I enjoyed not ony the insight into Korean life, but the way the book put this bahavior in a broader context.

Ms. Nelson's keen eye and sensitive writing create a vivid picture of how tensions among tradition, nationalism, rapid economic development and the globalization of markets play out in the everyday life of Koreans. Her book got me thinking in new ways about shopping and the collective unconscious, both in Korea and in my own culture. I came away with a better understanding not only of Korea, but also of how anthropology is done (at least by one talented anthropologist) in a postmodern world.