Consuming Desires, C

Individualism and desire, declares essayist and author Rosenblatt in his introduction to this collection of new essays by an array of distinguished writers, ""are what make us great and... small."" Most of these pieces address the contradictions inherent in our need to consume, our concepts of individuality and our position in the global economy. Rolling Stone correspondent William Greider hopes for a radical reconception of capitalism, in which the environmental cost of waste is factored in. Juliet Schor, author of The Overspent American, notes that consumerism is fueled as individuals use television programs, rather than neighbors, as points of reference. Journalist Alex Kotlowitz traces the tenuous link between fashion in the ghetto and the suburb. Environmentalist and author Bill McKibben acknowledges the irony in his desire to ""consume nature"" free of alteration by pesticides. New Press publisher Andre Schiffrin points out that the corporate pursuit of profit has stymied the substantial nonfiction of a generation past. Novelist Jane Smiley argues that consumerism rescued the American housewife, but can hardly be a global solution. While one solution here seems Pollyannaish--Suzanne Braun Levine's hope for an alliance between news consumers and news gatherers--Rosenblatt acknowledges that easy reform is difficult. Rather, he suggests that ""a search of the self"" might provoke us to seek balms from human connection rather than consumer goods. He may be right, but for many Americans, self-knowledge, like any consumer product, is best consumed in small, well-packaged doses. (June)