To a degree both engrossing and alarming, the story of fast food is the story of postwar America. Though created by a handful of mavericks, the fast food business has triggered the homogenization of our society. Fast food has unleashed the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, spawned an epidemic of obesity, and propelled the juggernaut of American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list of charges, but Schlosser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit and careful reasoning. Schlosser has unearthed a trove of fascinating, unsettling truths—from the unholy alliance between fast food and Hollywood, to the source of one major chain's flavors (the New Jersey Turnpike), to the seismic changes the industry has wrought in food production, popular culture an even real estate. He also uncovers fast food's enormous efforts to reel in the youngest most susceptible consumers even while it hones its institutionalized exploitation of teenagers and minorities. Schlosser then turns a critical eye toward globalization—one of today's hottest tops and a phenomenon launched and fueled by fast food.