This book was challenging and interesting. I rarely read a book that challenges so many of my ideas and makes me see so many things in different ways. At several times when I was reading, I had real "lightbulb over the head" moments of: "I never really thought about it that way."

Although the authors where there left-wing tendencies on their sleeves, the book seems remarkably pragmatic and apolitical in it's approach. This is a breath of fresh air.

Anyone concerned about the future of our civilization would gain insight from this book.

Unfortunately, this book, like so many others, has no nudity whatsoever. It's disappointing and a little sad, but c'est la vie.

Also titled NATION OF REBELS: WHY COUNTERCULTURE BECAME CONSUMER CULTURE (2004). Maybe that's the US version though, aimed at the rebels (or niche market, whichever you prefer) of which Heath and Potter speak. The Canadian name for the book, on the other hand, is very... Canadian.

Found this book to be an honest examination of why consumers make the decisions that they do. Lets face it, we all want to be different, while at the same time not so different as to stand out and this book explains why.

Solutions are offered on how to solve certain problems that while not revolutionary in nature are pratical and most importantly, implemenable.

If you choose to read this book honestly, you should get a lot out of it, and have a good laugh. If you choose to continue thinking that what they have to say doesn't apply to you then this book isn't for you.

What this book demonstrates is that counterculture has now chosen to negate itself. It would help if it aimed to overcome itself. A cautious start to this process is proposed here.
Joe Heath and Andrew Potter paint a scathing portrait of the counterculture as a movement by identifying it merely as a market segment which particularly drives capitalism and the pro-corporate world.
This isn't news to anyone. One might imagine Kenneth Lay and the Enron execs as glorious anti-heroes in the tradition of Easy Riders if they weren't so stinking rich. Screw the man. Screw everybody if you get a chance.

What this book fails to do is address the most important issues it only skips through: social justice and environmental destruction. The two academics offer very little in terms of solutions, concentrating on attacking the very tendency they have epitomized in this book, by having the counterculure countering itself.
As such they are merely selling a book. Let's rebel against rebellion, yeah.

They are helpful in having us reconsider politics seriously, rather than focus on pop culture, which only serves as entertainment. The canadian documentary The Corporation directly offers a potent political starting point without beating around the bush: let's make corporations accountable to all stakeholders, not only shareholders.

It's refreshing to see a discourse evolve in the direction this book takes us. But to those seeking solutions to the problems plaguing our kind, this is fluffy entertainment.