Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show BusinessWhat happens when media and politics become forms of entertainment? As our world begins to look more and more like Orwell's 1984, Neil's Postman's essential guide to the modern media is more relevant than ever. "It's unlikely that Trump has ever read Amusing Ourselves to Death, but his ascent would not have surprised Postman.” -CNN Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. Now, with television joined by more sophisticated electronic media—from the Internet to cell phones to DVDs—it has taken on even greater significance. Amusing Ourselves to Death is a prophetic look at what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of entertainment. It is also a blueprint for regaining control of our media, so that they can serve our highest goals. “A brilliant, powerful, and important book. This is an indictment that Postman has laid down and, so far as I can see, an irrefutable one.” –Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World |
From inside the book
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Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business Neil Postman. 20th Anniversary Edition AMUSING OURSELVES TO DEATH PUBLIC DISCOURSE IN THE AGE OF SHOW BUSINESS NEIL POSTMAN New Introduction by Andrew Postman Acclaim for Neil Postman's Amusing ...
Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business Neil Postman. 20th Anniversary Edition AMUSING OURSELVES TO DEATH PUBLIC DISCOURSE IN THE AGE OF SHOW BUSINESS NEIL POSTMAN New Introduction by Andrew Postman Acclaim for Neil Postman's Amusing ...
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... Ourselves to Death " As a fervent evangelist of the age of Hollywood , I publicly op- posed Neil Postman's dark picture of our media - saturated future . But time has proved Postman right . He accurately foresaw that the young would ...
... Ourselves to Death " As a fervent evangelist of the age of Hollywood , I publicly op- posed Neil Postman's dark picture of our media - saturated future . But time has proved Postman right . He accurately foresaw that the young would ...
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... Ourselves to Death remains his most reverberating and widely read book , translated into more than a dozen languages . He was educated at the State University of New York at Fredonia and Columbia University . He died in October 2003 ...
... Ourselves to Death remains his most reverberating and widely read book , translated into more than a dozen languages . He was educated at the State University of New York at Fredonia and Columbia University . He died in October 2003 ...
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Contents
Introduction to the Twentieth Anniversary Edition | vii |
In 1985 | xvii |
Foreword | xix |
The Medium Is the Metaphor | 3 |
Media as Epistemology | 16 |
Typographic America | 30 |
The Typographic Mind | 44 |
The PeekaBoo World | 64 |
The Age of Show Business | 83 |
Now This | 99 |
Shuffle Off to Bethlehem | 114 |
Reach Out and Elect Someone | 125 |
Teaching as an Amusing Activity | 142 |
The Huxleyan Warning | 157 |
Other editions - View all
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business Neil Postman Limited preview - 2005 |
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business Neil Postman Limited preview - 2005 |
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business Neil Postman No preview available - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
A-Team advertising Aldous Huxley American Amusing Ourselves audience become believe Billy Graham Boorstin Broadcasting called communication conversation course culture entertainment epistemology example fact Frye Hart Hill Street Blues Huxley Huxleyan idea ideology intellectual irrelevant Jimmy Swaggart language learning Lincoln Lincoln-Douglas debates literacy Marshall McLuhan matter McLuhan means medium ment metaphor Mimi mind movie newscaster newspaper nineteenth century oral Orwell Ourselves to Death Pat Robertson Penguin Books Perry Miller photograph political preachers Presbrey printed word printing press problem public discourse question readers reason religion religious Robert Schuller rock music Roland Barthes sense serious Sesame Street show business sion social speech story symbolic tele telegraph television commercial television programs television show television's things thought tion truth typographic viewers Walter Ong watch write to Penguin written word wrote York