Reluctant capitalists : bookselling and the culture of consumption / Laura J. Miller.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-297) and index.

Commercial culture and its discontents -- From dry goods merchant to Internet mogul : bookselling through American history -- Providing for the sovereign consumer : selecting and recommending books -- Designing the bookstore for the standardized consumer -- Serving the entertained consumer : the multifunction bookstore -- Bargaining with the rational consumer : selling the low-cost book -- The revolt of the retailers : independent bookseller activism -- Pursuing the citizen-consumer : consumption as politics.

Print version record.

Over the past half-century, bookselling, like many retail industries, has evolved from an arena dominated by independent bookstores to one in which chain stores have significant market share. Looking at a century of book retailing, this text demonstrates that the independent/chain dynamic is not entirely new.

English.

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