It's in the Bag: What Purses Reveal--and Conceal

New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 2006. xv, 104 pages, illustrations (chiefly colour); 20 cm. Near fine. Tight, clean copy. Age toning. Stated First Edition. Fine DJ. "The time is perfect for a short, smart purse book. The 'good bag' has nudged out shoes, jeans, and jewelry as the must-have fashion possession. Despite price hikes -- $1,445 for a Prada bowler bag that once cost $940 -- the craze for high-end purses helps fuel the booming luxury-goods market and, via knock-offs, hugely influences the $6 billion-a-year mainstream handbag industry. But purse mania isn't just an outgrowth of a strong luxury-goods market -- human thoughts, feelings, and dreams are involved, too . This cultural history of the handbag borrows from psychology (Freud noted that sometimes a purse is a vagina -- which is perhaps why the first 'handbags' were carried by men!), sociology (a purse as a 'status symbol') and even economics (Why have prices gotten so steep?). Researched and erudite yet always fun, Winifred Gallagher offers in IT'S IN THE BAG a charming theory of modern identity as seen through one of our keenest obsessions. / Winifred Gallagher is the author of House Thinking, Just the Way You Are (a New York Times Notable Book), Working on God, and Spiritual Genius. She has written for numerous publications, including Atlantic Monthly, Rolling Stone, and the New York Times. She lives in Manhattan and Dubois, Wyoming." - Publisher.. 1st.. Hardcover. Very Good/Fine. 8vo. Collectible.