Theory of the Gimmick: Aesthetic Judgment and Capitalist Form

Christian Gauss Award ShortlistWinner of the ASAP Book PrizeA Literary Hub Book of the Year "Makes the case that the gimmick...is of tremendous critical value...Lies somewhere between critical theory and Sontag's best work."--Los Angeles Review of Books "Ngai exposes capitalism's tricks in her mind-blowing study of the time- and labor-saving devices we call gimmicks."--New Statesman "One of the most creative humanities scholars working today...My god, it's so good."--Literary Hub "Ngai is a keen analyst of overlooked or denigrated categories in art and life...Highly original."--4Columns "It is undeniable that part of what makes Ngai's analyses of aesthetic categories so appealing...is simply her capacity to speak about them brilliantly."--Bookforum "A page turner."--American Literary History Deeply objectionable and yet strangely attractive, the gimmick comes in many guises: a musical hook, a financial strategy, a striptease, a novel of ideas. Above all, acclaimed theorist Sianne Ngai