THE PARADISE PROGRAM: Travels Through Muzak, Hilton, Coca-Cola, Texaco, Walt Disney and Other World Empires

A breezy, superficial journey through some of the large corporations whose signs or slogans or products are in some way emblems of America: from the obvious Coke logo (so ubiquitous it has become, in effect, invisible) to Ronald McDonald (recognized by 96% of American children -- a close second to Santa Claus) of hamburger fame, now popular even on Tokyo's Ginza. Neither apologia nor critique, these overviews and interviews of the men whose mediocre dreams sell our homogenized culture: the Reader's Digest folk in -- yes -- Pleasantville; the omnipresent Muzak whose ascending curve of plasticized music ups workers' productivity from the shores of Finland to the streets of Nixon's Inaugural Parade; Hilton, International, over whose empire the sun never sets. This is an amusing book, full of delightful trivia (industrial musicals cost more per annum than all the shows of Broadway; Equity rates, naturally, are higher), that shies away from any consideration of the political and cultural implications of a marketing system that has just perfected the sixteen inch egg. Try it, you'll like it.