The use of bar codes in commercial outlets, the computerization of business transactions and the explosion of e-businesses provide a flood of data to consumers and corporations. For years companies have been analyzing this data and extracting information to boost sales. This process, known as data mining, gives this book its name. The Amazon refered to is Amazon.com the online warehouse of books CDs movies, toys, etc. which has developed some of the most sophisticated filters for their vast database. Based on these filters, Amazon makes recommendations to their customers. Angie Waller has collected and cross fertilized a selection of Amazon recommendations and has come up with amusing lists of CD recommendations for political conservatives and liberals. In another section of the book that draws on data from specialized book lists (specifically listmania!), she creates a colorful complex diagram linking politically conservative books with the most popular CDs bought by the same customers (The Beatles 1 by The Beatles and A Day Without Rain by Enya, top the list) and then repeats it for the liberal audience (Bob Dylan, Love and Theft and O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack occupy the top slots for liberals). The final section of the book presents a direct sampling of Amazon’s “Purchase Circles” and shows items uniquely popular to the US Military, the UN, Arthur Andersen Consulting, Nike and others. A humorously informative treatment of corporate concerns.
