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Material World: A Global Family Portrait | 
 enlarge | Authors: Peter Menzel, Charles C. Mann
Creator: Paul Kennedy
Publisher: Sierra Club Books
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy Used: $10.40
You Save: $14.60 (58%)
New (32) Used (45) Collectible (2) from $10.40
Avg. Customer Rating:  53 reviews
Sales Rank: 6571
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 11.9 x 8.8 x 0.8
ISBN: 0871564300
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.85
EAN: 9780871564306
ASIN: 0871564300
Publication Date: October 3, 1995
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Good title in good condition. Pages are clean and tight with exception of gift inscription on first page. Covers show some edgewear, rubbing, and bumping.Satisfaction guaranteed. If item not as described, return for refund of purchase price.
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Product Description
In an unprecedented effort, sixteen of the world’s foremost photographers traveled to thirty nations around the globe to live for a week with families that were statistically average for that nation. At the end of each visit, photographer and family collaborated on a remarkable portrait of the family members outside their home, surrounded by all of their possessions—a few jars and jugs for some, an explosion of electronic gadgetry for others. Vividly portraying the look and feel of the human condition everywhere on Earth, this internationally acclaimed bestseller puts a human face on the issues of population, environment, social justice, and consumption as it illuminates the crucial question facing our species today: Can all six billion of us have all the things we want?
Amazon.com
In honor of the United Nations-sponsored International Year of the Family in 1994, award-winning photojournalist Peter Menzel brought together 16 of the world's leading photographers to create a visual portrait of life in 30 nations. Material World tackles its wide subject by zooming in, allowing one household to represent an entire nation. Photographers spent one week living with a "statistically average" family in each country, learning about their work, their attitudes toward their possessions, and their hopes for the future. Then a "big picture" shot of the family was taken outside the dwelling, surrounded by all their (many or few) material goods. The book provides sidebars offering statistics and a brief history for each country, as well as personal notes from the photographers about their experiences. But it is the "big pictures" that tell most of the story. In one, a British family pauses before a meal of tea and crumpets under a cloudy sky. In another, wary Bosnians sit beside mattresses used as sniper barricades. A Malian family composed of a husband, his two wives, and their children rests before a few cooking and washing implements in golden afternoon light. Material World is a lesson in economics and geography, reminding us of the world's inequities, but also of humanity's common threads. An engrossing, enlightening book. --Maria Dolan
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| Customer Reviews: Read 48 more reviews...
Outdated but valuable July 24, 2008
This book was created from pictures taken in the early 90's, so it is s bit dated, especially in the more developed nations. Things like computers and other tech is obviously missing. I know that many destitute Africans now even have cell phones, not shown here. Otherwise, this is a great book and is very educational. After reading it, I got to wondering what my possesions on the street would look like...
this was an eye opener May 11, 2008
I thoroughly have enjoyed this book, looking at the people from around the world and their possessions and realizing how different I live from another. It was amazing to see each family so proud, of either how little they have or how much they have, and to have all that they own on display (from in the dead of winter to floating on a boat!).
A must see! April 17, 2008
This book is absolutely a wake-up call for many people out there who think they don't have enough! Beautifully put together. Outstanding.
Material World March 10, 2008
Material World by Peter Menzel is one of the most exciting and informative books I have come across in a long time . No other book I have ever read has given me such in depth knowledge of the lives and circumstances of people living in other countries around the globe. The photographs are breathtakingly beautiful and the statistics are fascinating. Ursula Michelson, author of Alzheimers Patients in the Nursing Home: How Well Do Caregivers Meet Their Needs?
Beautiful book! November 15, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is a fascinating look at materialism, or the lack of it, around the world. Oddly enough, the American family was not the most obviously materialistic; there was a Saudi family with a 42 foot long couch! I have put this gorgeously photographed book in my classroom for independant reading time for my 9th graders. It is filled with statistics, information about the countries and the families and the stories of the photographers themselves. Also check out The Hungry Planet, a visual look at what people around the world eat, photographed and written by the same authors of Material World.
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