Doesn t everyone want the good life these days? Our shopping mall world offers us a never-ending array of pleasures to explore. Consumerism promises us a vision of heaven on earth-a reality that s hyper-real. We ve all experienced hyperreality: a candy so grape-ey it doesn t taste like grapes any more; a model s photo so manipulated that it doesn t even look like her; a theme park version of life that tells us we can have something better than the real thing. But what if this reality is not all that it s cracked up to be? Admit it, we ve been ripped off by our culture and its version of reality that leaves us lonely, bored, and trapped. But what s the alternative?