Studying the phenomenon of shopping centers: If shopping centers make us feel bad, why do we return to them repeatedly? In a world poisoned by capitalism, is shopping what makes life worth living?
Kate Black grew up in the West Edmonton Mall, a huge mall known for its indoor water park, dangerous roller coasters, and controversial dolphin shows. But everyone has a favorite mall, or a mall that represents their own memories. It is a place that people love and hate at the same time, a place that combines pleasure, pain, and deathViolence, urban legends.
Blending the history of shopping with the story of coming of age in North America's largest and strangest mall, The Big Mall explores how these structures became the ultimate symbol of horror in late capitalism—and, surprisingly, a subversive site of hope.
