Download or read book 2012 written by Joseph Gelfer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-09-11 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 21 December 2012 was believed to mark the end of the thirteenth B'ak'tun cycle in the Long Count of the Mayan calendar. Many people believed this date to mark the end of the world or, at the very least, a shift to a new form of global consciousness. Examining how much of the phenomenon is based on the historical record and how much is contemporary fiction, the book explores the landscape of the modern apocalyptic imagination, the economics of the spiritual marketplace, the commodification of countercultural values, and the cult of celebrity.