“Fascinating … A compelling blend of cultural anthropology and business journalism.”
–Andrea Sachs, Time Magazine
read more...

Walker lays out his theory in well-written, entertaining detail
–Seth Stevenson, Slate
read more...

Marked by meticulous research and careful conclusions, this superbly readable book confirms New York Times journalist Walker as an expert on consumerism. … [A] thoughtful and unhurried investigation into consumerism that pushes the analysis to the maximum…”
–Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)
read more...

The most trenchant psychoanalyst of our consumer selves is Rob Walker. ‘Buying In’ is a fresh and fascinating exploration of the places where material culture and identity intersect.
– Michael Pollan

Rob Walker is a gift. He shows that in our shattered, scattered world, powerful brands are existential, insinuating themselves into the human questions “what am I about?” and “how do I connect?” His insight that brand influence is becoming both more pervasive and more hidden—that we are not so self-defined as we like to think—should make us disturbed, and vigilant.
–Jim Collins

Rob Walker is a terrific writer who understands both human nature and the business world. His book is highly entertaining, but it’s also a deeply thoughtful look at the ways in which marketing meets the modern psyche.”
–Bethany McLean

Buying In has vast social implications, far beyond the fields of marketing and branding. Most importantly, from the policy point of view, it obliterates our old paradigm of companies (the bad guys) corrupting our children (the innocents) via commercials. In this new world, media-literate young freely and willingly co-opt the brands, with most companies being clueless bystanders desperate to keep up. Consuming and interacting with products has become the new turf for the identity politics game, stirring the kind of savage feelings previously reserved for matters of ethnicity and class. I really don’t know if this is good news or bad news, but I can say, with certainty, that this book is a must-read.
– Po Bronson

Go to Rob Walker’s Murketing Journal

“Buying In poses an essential question about how we position ourselves in consumer culture, and that question is: what makes you feel real? And knowing you have the power to change it, will you make use of it?"
Q&A with Anne Elizabeth Moore, Anti-Advertising Agency

“Rob is ubiquitous, but that’s not why I read him. I read him because he’s crazy with the smarts, has his finger on the pulse of what people are buying and why, and presents his ideas in a clever, original way.”
Q&A with Rick Liebling, Eyecube

Buying In on BuzzFeed

Buying In on GoodReads

"Delves into the attitudes of the global consumer in the age of plenty, and, well, we aren't too pretty."
–Robert Blinn, Core77.com

Buying In, is in one way, a smart, readable exposition on the idea christened by Rob of 'murketing' ie murky marketing (think the Red Bull flying events, BzzAgents, the launch of Scion, etc.) that he has talked about weekly in his column. But it is a much more fundamentally important book.
–Brand New (Gareth Kay)

Walker has an astonishing array of sources and background stories, each meticulously researched and hand picked for advancing an tactful ideology about brands, products and our behaviors. … It left me looking deeper into the actual and perceived value of objects.
– Ross Cidlowski, Lifefilter

Many more press, blog, online publication, etc. reviews of, reactions to, interviews about, and riffs on Buying In, updated as they appear.