Fake

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.

The electric candle and plastic flower, faux fur, artificial sweeteners and meat analogues, Elvis impersonators, prosthetics. Imitation this, false that. Humans have been replacing and improving upon the real thing for millennia-from the wooden and cartonnage toes of the pharaohs to the celebrity impressions of Jay Pharoah. So why do people have such disdain for so-called "fakes"? Kati Stevens's Fake describes the history, the economics, and the psychology of imitations, as well as our relationships to them-particularly today. After all, fakes aren't going anywhere; they seem to be going everywhere.

Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.