For my own unsolicited review of "The Rebel Sell", it is an interesting read indeed. I had actually done so years ago and didn't quite know what to make of it at the time. I was going through my own bout of radicalism, finding some of their arguments a bit pedantic but their overarching theme provocative... Basically that all the Burning Mans and Critical Masses in the world won't "raise" the kind of "consciousness" required to change things like real political activity does and, on the contrary, are part of the same paradigm of individualism and materialism that drives modern capitalism. The line that stuck with me the most, oddly enough (or perhaps not) was their example of "Star Trek: The Next Generation". They note that aboard the Enterprise everybody wears what amounts to pyjammas, begging the question of whether they are all mindless drones (the counter-cultural response) or if they have developed a sense of personal identity that doesn't require them to act out with a gimmick.

Though provocative, it didn't make much of an impact on me at the time. I even resold my hardcover copy, which in retrospect I wish I hadn't. A few experiences since then worked to convince me more of their thesis. I grew weary of a group of Christian anarchists I fell in with because it seemed more important for them to be "pure" and "radical" than to be Christian. I admitted to myself that I actually liked some of the movies and things produced by Disney, which led me around to reading Walt's opinions about respecting the everyman, everywoman and especially everychild, not worrying too much about the cynical "sophisticates" (an interesting contrast to the Catastrophone Orchestra manifesto's apparent contempt for Disney and grandparents, the two surefire markers of hiplessness). An understanding that "average", "normal" people are far more interesting, diverse and complex than the dialectics of alternative culture suggested started to impress itself upon me. And then along came Steampunk redefined... I don't doubt that in a future edition of "The Rebel Sell", the authours would find a fertile example in it.