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Article: Thorstein Veblen and conspicuous consumption.(Critical essay)
- Article from:
- Quadrant
- Article date:
- January 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Quadrant Magazine Company, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IT MUST BE SIXTY years ago, perhaps almost to the day, that I bought my copy of Thorstein Veblen s book The Theory of the Leisure Class. I was on my way to have a counter lunch with Brian Fitzpatrick at Melbourne's famous Mitre Tavern, which happily today still serves beer in a lane off Collins Street. Being a little early, I popped into the Craftsman bookshop, newly opened in wartime Melbourne in a basement nearby. (Alas, the Craftsman does not survive.) They were displaying some freshly arrived stock of titles in Random House's wonderful "Modern Library" series and, after a little browsing, I bought the Veblen--for the life of me I can't remember why. Tucking it under ...