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

Like a trendy Chloe clutch, this slim volume on the quintessential women's accessory has detail aplenty but little depth. While author Gallagher (House Thinking: A Room-by-Room Look at How We Live) touches on a range of topics-including history, design and designers, the business of bags and personal style-she misses a number of opportunities to ""consider one seemingly simple everyday object's complex meanings."" For example, her chapter on handbag business looks at Ellen Goldstein-Lynch, founder of the accessories design department at the Fashion Institute of Technology; one-woman handbag company Helen Marien; and perennial favorite Kate Spade. Nowhere, however, does she examine the manufacturing process of large name brands like Louis Vuitton and Fendi, and she barely acknowledges the flourishing counterfeit market, no doubt a concern for the $6 billion industry-not to mention readers, for whom a knockoff Bottega is as least as intriguing (if not more so) than the out-of-reach $2,600 original. Her final chapter, which examines the purse habits of a handful of celebrities and bag connoisseurs, is entertaining but, tellingly, fails to consider the average woman. Though decidedly ""not a shopper's guide,"" Gallagher's lack of rigor makes this light volume a perfect supplement to your latest issue of Lucky.