First published in 1979, The World of Goods rapidly established itself as a classic. In this pioneering work, a leading anthropologist and an economist join forces to suggest what market researchers have long suspected and anthropologists have observed firsthand in other cultures--that people use goods as a means of communicating with each other.

It is the unique contribution of this fascinating book that it shows us precisely how the insights of anthropology can help us better understand the varied ways in which we use the ''world of goods'' to communicate.