Includes bibliographical references (p. 346-390) and index
The age of award -- Prize frenzy -- Precursors of the modern cultural prize -- The logic of proliferation -- Prizes as entertainment -- Peculiarities of the awards industry -- The making of a prize -- Taste management -- Trophies as objects of production and trade -- The game and its players -- Scandalous currency -- The new rhetoric of prize commentary -- Strategies of condescension, styles of play -- The global economy of cultural prestige -- The arts as international sport -- The new geography of prestige -- Prizes and the politics of world culture -- Appendix A. The rise of the prize -- Appendix B. Prizes and commerce -- Appendix C. Winner take all: six lists