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The Conquest of Cool:

Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism
Front Cover
34 Reviews
University of Chicago Press, Dec 1, 1998 - History - 322 pages
While the youth counterculture remains the most evocative and best-remembered symbol of the cultural ferment of the 1960s, the revolution that shook American business during those boom years has gone largely unremarked. In this fascinating and revealing study, Thomas Frank shows how the youthful revolutionaries were joined—and even anticipated —by such unlikely allies as the advertising industry and the men's clothing business.

"[Thomas Frank is] perhaps the most provocative young cultural critic of the moment."—Gerald Marzorati, New York Times Book Review

"An indispensable survival guide for any modern consumer."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Frank makes an ironclad case not only that the advertising industry cunningly turned the countercultural rhetoric of revolution into a rallying cry to buy more stuff, but that the process itself actually predated any actual counterculture to exploit."—Geoff Pevere, Toronto Globe and Mail

"The Conquest of Cool helps us understand why, throughout the last third of the twentieth century, Americans have increasingly confused gentility with conformity, irony with protest, and an extended middle finger with a populist manifesto. . . . His voice is an exciting addition to the soporific public discourse of the late twentieth century."—T. J. Jackson Lears, In These Times

"An invaluable argument for anyone who has ever scoffed at hand-me-down counterculture from the '60s. A spirited and exhaustive analysis of the era's advertising."—Brad Wieners, Wired Magazine

"Tom Frank is . . . not only old-fashioned, he's anti-fashion, with a place in his heart for that ultimate social faux pas, leftist politics."—Roger Trilling, Details

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Review: The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism

User Review  - Eddy Allen - Goodreads

While the youth counterculture remains the most evocative and best-remembered symbol of the cultural ferment of the 1960s, the revolution that shook American business during those boom years has gone ... Read full review

Review: The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism

User Review  - Luke Echo - Goodreads

This is a very detailed analysis of advertising trends in the USA in the 1960s. Frank makes some interesting points against the standard "Co-Option" theme which seem particularly valid with the early ... Read full review

All 33 reviews »

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The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip ...
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Limited preview - 1998
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The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip ...
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Limited preview - 1997
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No preview available - 1997

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References from web pages

Conquest of Cool by Thomas Frank, excerpt
The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism by Thomas Frank © 1997, 264 pages, 18 halftones, 7 tables ...
www.press.uchicago.edu/ Misc/ Chicago/ 259919.html

cool.html
Introduction. When I first sat down to read Thomas Frank's The Conquest of Cool (1997), I immediately thought of my own brief encounter with the world of ...
reagle.org/ joseph/ 2004/ indust/ cool.html

JSTOR: The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and ...
The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism. Ian Gordon. The Journal of American History, Vol. 86, No. ...
links.jstor.org/ sici?sici=0021-8723(199912)86%3A3%3C1396%3ATCOCBC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-E

the Rise Hip Consumerism
138 Left History 5.2. Thomas Frank, The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and. the Rise. of. Hip Consumerism ...
pi.library.yorku.ca/ ojs/ index.php/ lh/ article/ view/ 5351/ 4546

Consumer Counterculture - New York Times
Consumer Counterculture. By GERALD MARZORATI. The Conquest of Cool Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism. By Thomas Frank. ...
query.nytimes.com/ gst/ fullpage.html?res=9F05EFD8143BF933A05752C1A961958260& sec=& spon=& pagewanted=print

New Page 1
The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism (Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1997). ...
www.49thparallel.bham.ac.uk/ back/ issue2/ hilton.htm

Salon | Were the '60s a fraud?
"The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism" By Thomas Frank University of Chicago Press, 287 pages ...
www.salon.com/ books/ feature/ 1997/ 12/ cov_22feature.html

Adbusters : The Magazine - #76 The Reconquest of Cool / The ...
The Reconquest of Cool. From Adbusters #76, MAR-APR 2008. adbusters76thereconquestofcool,joeszabo Photo: Joe Szabo. alt. From its roots i
adbusters.org/ the_magazine/ 76/ The_Reconquest_of_Cool.html

Books: Thomas Frank (The Boston Phoenix . 12-01-97)
Cultural critic Thomas Frank wonders if the ad-men of the 1960s were hipper than the hippies
weeklywire.com/ ww/ 12-01-97/ boston_books_3.html

Book: The Conquest of Cool
A description and discussion of Thomas Frank's book The Conquest of Cool
www.tcfrank.com/ conquest.html

About the author (1998)

Thomas Frank is the author of Pity the Billionaire, The Wrecking Crew, What's the Matter with Kansas, One Market Under God and others. Frank is a former opinion columnist for The Wall Street Journal and is the founding editor of The Baffler and a monthly columnist for Harper's.

Bibliographic information

QR code for The Conquest of Cool
TitleThe Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism
AuthorThomas Frank
Editionillustrated, reprint
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press, 1998
ISBN0226260127, 9780226260129
Length322 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Business & Economics / Advertising & Promotion
Business & Economics / Commerce
History / General
History / Modern / 20th Century
  
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