Peter Pericles Trifonas is a cultural critic and philosopher.
He is an Associate Professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. He has written extensively in the areas of cultural studies, media, and philosophy. His books include: Ethics, Institutions, and
the Right to Philosophy with Jacques Derrida; Umberto Eco and Football; Barthes and the Empire of Signs; Deconstructing Derrida: New Tasks for the Humanties.

Effie Balomenos is an artist and illustrator, a cultural critic
as well as a teacher of visual arts. Her interest and expertise
in the relationship between aesthetics and culture has found
its critical expression in her art and writing. She has published
in the area of aesthetics education and has illustrated a series
of picture books that is being used in schools around the globe.

On Offer:

What is good taste? Where does good taste come from?
How do we identify it? How do we make it our own?

Good Taste: How What You Choose Defines Who You Are
answers these questions in a humorous and intelligent way.
It explores the absurdity of the concept of good taste and
its everyday influence on us by using contemporary examples
such as Reality Television, celebrity chefs and food porn,
the iPod, the fashion industry, advertising and media, Rap
and Hip Hop, Kabala, body piercing and tattoos, Disney,
Harry Potter, professional wrestling, and talk shows.

Like it or not - our taste defines us. It more or less guides
our personal and social aspirations and desires in the public spheres where we live, work, and play with others. And the ideals of good taste affect our personal choices and decisions every minute of each waking hour. Whether it be choosing a brand of toothpaste, selecting a book to read, a CD to listen
to, or deciding which house to buy, the conventions of
good taste influence and guide all facets of human behavior.

Every day the average person is actively and passively
exposed to over 20,000 images that show and tell the
standards, dimensions, and limits of good taste. Its characteristics are pictured on the glamorized covers of
popular magazines, plastered on bill boards, commercialized
on television, film and radio by celebrities and sports personalities. The dimensions of good taste are also embedded
in the clipstream of web page banner ads, delivered through flyers, product catalogues, coupons, and find their way around the world on-line at an expediential rate. Yet more often than not, the sources of their influence upon our personal and social behaviors go unquestioned even thought they show us what we should do, say, buy, own, or aspire to, in order to find satisfaction and pleasure in the everyday world.

The pursuit of good taste has become the pursuit of happiness. Good Taste: How What You Choose Defines Who You Are is a fresh and accessible look at how the images of good taste in the media affect our lives as we pursue, satisfaction, pleasure, success and happiness.

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