All the world's a mall

Summary/Review: "All the World’s a Mall details a whirlwind world tour in five stops: Edmonton, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, and Casablanca, chosen because they are home to some of the biggest malls on the planet. Built to contain over-sized leisure and sales activities, these disproportionate shopping malls are cities within cities, wonderlands where visitors come from afar to do everything: walk, eat, sleep, watch, swim, ski, skate, ride, photograph, and, of course, buy. Swiss journalist Rinny Gremaud recounts her travels to and through these fake gold and marble realms, relaying building histories, addressing questions around management and economics, and providing portraits of the patrons, employees, and commercial executives she meets at these “best of the world” centres. With a curious, critical, and sometimes ironic eye, Gremaud reflects on the globalized commerce that drives the creation of these mirrored palaces, and on their spectacular and senseless utopic vision of an acculturated world centered on brands and consumption. Informative and thoughtful, exhilarating and exhausting, jet-lagged and always air conditioned, All the World’s a Mall is a truly memorable, hallucinatory adventure."--