|
|
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
|
You are here:
Home > Unusual Subjects Books > Death and Dying > Item
|
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
|
by Neil Postman and Andrew Postman
Sales Rank : 3331
|
|
|
|
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Penguin Non-Classics; 20 Anv edition December 27, 2005
Language: English
ISBN-10: 014303653X
ISBN-13: 978-0143036531
Product Dimensions:
7.7 x 5 x 0.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
From Publishers Weekly
From the author of Teaching as a Subversive Activity comes a sustained, withering and thought-provoking attack on television and what it is doing to us. Postman's theme is the decline of the printed word and the ascendancy of the "tube" with its tendency to present everythingmurder, mayhem, politics, weatheras entertainment. The ultimate effect, as Postman sees it, is the shrivelling of public discourse as TV degrades our conception of what constitutes news, political debate, art, even religious thought. Early chapters trace America's one-time love affair with the printed word, from colonial pamphlets to the publication of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. There's a biting analysis of TV commercials as a form of "instant therapy" based on the assumption that human problems are easily solvable. Postman goes further than other critics in demonstrating that television represents a hostile attack on literate culture. October 30
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From AudioFile
This McCluhanesque diatribe begins by observing that our present and future resemble the predictions in Brave New World more than those of 1984. Technology, in particular television, has shaped our politics, news, religion, education, every aspect of our world. Rigginbach's reading is a little too fast-paced for this material; furthermore, the material is not suited to an audio format. Why did the author allow his thought to be corrupted by allowing their promulgation through non-print media. In addition, the examples he cites are ten years old; this week's television better supports his conclusions. The message is valid, but the medium through which it's presented is flawed. S.F.W. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to the
Audio Cassette
edition.
|
|
|
|
