wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (05/03/85)
As I mentioned in an earlier posting, I have recently read a rather good book on the development, cultural impact, and nature of the shopping mall: THE MALLING OF AMERICA, An Inside Look At The Great Consumer Paradise, by William Severini Kowinski (Wm. Morrow & Co., 1985, 402 pg + index, $17.95, ISBN 0-688-04180-9). If you are from a small town, having left it in your youth, and gone back to it in your middle age and found it totally changed by the shopping mall now on the outskirts; or if you've seen your city's downtown alter radically because of the shopping malls erupting in the suburbs, you will gain some worthwhile info from this book. If you're younger than that, and grew up !hanging out" at the mall, you'll also find something of interest here. And if you've newly immigrated, and want to know why Americans shop in these strange temples to Mammon, you'll find some good explanations here. I read this soon after reading Somtow Sucharitkul's MALLWORLD, and found the conjunction rather interesting. SF types might find some worth in repeating the experience. Kowinski was inspired by the changes the coming of the malls wrought on his hometown (Greensburg, PA) and expanded the scope to include malls all across the US. His book encompasses the technical details of malls -- their construction (though not to an engineering level on the structures), design, legal details of their relationship with the tenants, promotion and advertising, etc., and the sociolgical impact -- on the shoppers, on their communities, and on the business environment. All in all, a readable and interesting look at a phenomenon that has a great impact on all of us. Regards, Will Martin USENET: seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin or ARPA/MILNET: wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA