Commodify Your Dissent

From the pages of The Baffler of yore, sharp, satirical broadsides against the Culture Trust. In the “old” Gilded Age, the barons of business accumulated vast wealth and influence from their railroads, steel mills, and banks. But now it’s culture that stands at the heart of the American enterprise. Mass entertainment brings the public into the consuming fold and consolidates the power of business over the American mind. For twenty-five years and counting, The Baffler has been the invigorating voice of dissent against these developments, in the grand tradition of The American Mercury and the muckrakers. In this, The Baffler’s classic collection, you’ll find the best of the magazine’s writing from the roaring nineties, the decade of bullishness, self-help, and grunge-speak. Thomas Frank describes the ever-accelerating race to market youth culture. Steve Albini takes on “The Problem with Music.” Keith White pokes holes in Wired magazine, the voice of the corporate revolution. Along the wa