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| Original Title: | Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business |
| ISBN: | 014303653X (ISBN13: 9780143036531) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Neil Postman
Paperback | Pages: 184 pages Rating: 4.15 | 17511 Users | 2105 Reviews
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Television has conditioned us to tolerate visually entertaining material measured out in spoonfuls of time, to the detriment of rational public discourse and reasoned public affairs. In this eloquent, persuasive book, Neil Postman alerts us to the real and present dangers of this state of affairs, and offers compelling suggestions as to how to withstand the media onslaught. Before we hand over politics, education, religion, and journalism to the show business demands of the television age, we must recognize the ways in which the media shape our lives and the ways we can, in turn, shape them to serve out highest goals.
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| Title | : | Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business |
| Author | : | Neil Postman |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | 20th Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 184 pages |
| Published | : | December 27th 2005 by Penguin Books (first published November 25th 1985) |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. Sociology. Philosophy. Cultural. Politics. Psychology. Science. Technology |
Rating About Books Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
Ratings: 4.15 From 17511 Users | 2105 ReviewsPiece About Books Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
As I sit down to write this, President Trump has just described Frederick Douglass as "someone who has done a terrific job that is being recognized by more and more people." (February 1, 2017).Frederick Douglass was an African American abolitionist, writer, and reformer who died in 1895. Apparently, the President of the United States has no idea who Frederick Douglass was, since he is referring to Douglass in the present tense. I have been struggling to understand how Trump got elected. Not justThis really is a book that needs to be read. Im going to start with the quote that got me to read this book:We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn't, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The roots of liberal democracy had held. Wherever else the terror had happened, we, at least, had not been visited by Orwellian nightmares. But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell's dark vision, there was another - slightly older, slightly less well
A book Ive long citedthe title and familiar opening linesbut until now have never read. Im stunned by the books continual relevanceperhaps more so than when Postman first wrote the book. The book is tightly argued and convincing. Even though the focus is on modern-day TV and entertainment (in news, politics, religion), the book is laden with timeless wisdom. I especially appreciated the panoramic view of the centuries; how technology is never neutral but has a built-in ideology; and how a
I think this was my introduction to Postman and I read this book in a day; it's 163 pages. Yes, I like to read, but even so back then with two little kids, I rarely read that much in month much less a day! I had two nearly-hyperactive (okay yes they were girls) kids of four and five. I only mention this so you know just how big an impression this book made on me at the time. Up until then I frequently resorted to letting the kids 'do' videos several hours a day--not that they would ever sit
I read this book in preparation for my third reading of DFW's Infinite Jest because I am a crazy rabid fan of that book and Amusing Ourselves to Death is often referenced by critics as parallel to DFW's big points w/r/t media/entertainment/culture. Here are Mr. Postman's own words:"To say it, then, as plainly as I can, this book is an inquiry into and a lamentation about the most significant American cultural fact of the second half of the twentieth century: the decline of the Age of Typography
If Herbert Marcuse was alive today, he wouldve concluded that Trump is a creation of the fraudulent Culture Industry that perpetually dupes addict consumers by conjuring up prefabricated fantasies about the endless promise of the American Dream.Theodor Adorno first coined the phrase Culture Industry. Adorno warned of a western Culture Industry that blurred the distinction between truth and fiction, between the commercial and the political. Neil Postman, prophetically predicted the internet,
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