Expanding on previous studies of Zen art history, material/visual culture, and religious practice, Zen and Material Culture focuses on the vast range of "stuff" in Japanese Zen, including beads, bowls, buildings, staffs, statues, rags, robes and even popular retail commodities distributed in America. I agree with Pamela Winfield and Steven Heine's charge that there is a popular misconception of Zen, and Buddhism at large, as meditative or minimalist, and not concerned with worldly material possessions. I am excited that one of this edited volume's goals is to disabuse others of this notion... While there is academic attention on Buddhist financial matters in India, China, Tibet and some work on Japan, I do not see as much on Zen. Therefore, Winfield and Heine's volume is quite timely.