This volume investigates the intersection of luxury, consumption, and the construction of sexual identity within historical and contemporary textual practices. The editors, Alan Sinfield and Jean Howard, bring together a collection of scholarly essays that analyze how material wealth and aesthetic excess inform the representation of desire in literature and media. By utilizing a framework rooted in cultural materialism and queer theory, the contributors argue that sexualities are not static but are actively shaped by the socio-economic conditions of their time.

Scholars in the field of cultural studies frequently cite this journal issue for its rigorous application of materialist critique to gender and sexuality. The prose is highly academic and dense, making it a specialized resource for researchers and advanced students interested in the intersection of economics and identity.