Book Review: Alistair Gordon Naked Airport: A Cultural History of the World's Most Revolutionary Structure University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2008, $17 pbk, 305 pp. ISBN: 139780226304564:

TLDR: For instance, the authors argues that the real pleasure of the lottery for participants is mental, involving ongoing experiential aspects rather than immediate thrills or excitement of the kind that are commonly found in other forms of gambling.

Abstract: notions of gambling might not apply particularly well to lottery participation for some players. It is in this context that Casey argues that the real pleasure of the lottery for participants is mental, involving ongoing experiential aspects rather than immediate thrills or excitement of the kind that are commonly found in other forms of gambling. The pleasures of this type of game are to be found in dreaming and fantasizing about possible lives and courses of action if one were to win. At the same time, the fact that many players do not really want to win life-changing amounts of money suggests that this realm is also where they want the lottery to stay. Overall, this research shows that lottery gambling is both more mundane and yet at the same time more interesting than previously thought. Casey demonstrates that it is part of everyday life that fits around the patterns and routines of family, friends and work, and enhances sociability, leisure and dreaming. The pleasures of the game appear to be found in the realm of the immaterial, and are gained from imagining wins and talking about jackpots – albeit with a realistic expectation that they are not likely to happen. In some ways, the emphasis on the mundane and routinized elements of lottery play begins to beg the question: what kind of gambling is lottery gambling? At times, it does not seem to be gambling at all, but rather a form of consumption whose benefits are largely to be found in the experiential domain of dreaming, and which also facilitates other, secondary forms of leisure among participants. At one point, Casey states: ‘This book is a “story”, an account of the everyday, classed and gendered lives of the working class women of this sample’ (p. 61). In the best tradition of sociological research, it is exactly that, and it succeeds in telling its story – bringing characters, themes and plot together in an engrossing narrative that deserves a wide readership, in cultural and feminist studies, in sociology, and beyond.