Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, 20th Anniversary Edition

**What 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__

In this eloquent and persuasive book, Neil Postman examines the deep and broad effects of television culture on the manner in which we conduct our public affairs, on how entertainment values have corrupted the very way we think. As politics, news, religion, education, and commerce are given expression less and less in the form of printed or spoken words, they are rapidly being reshaped and staged to suit the requirements of television. And because television is a visual medium, whose images are most pleasurably apprehended when they are fast-moving and dynamic, discourse on television takes the form of entertainment. Television has little tolerance for argument, hypothesis, or explanation it demands performing art.

Mr. Postman argues that public discourse, the advancing of arguments in logical order for the public good-once the hallmark of American culture-is being converted from exposition and explanation to entertainment.

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

Cover......Page 1 Copyright ......Page 3 Contents ......Page 4 Introduction to the Twentieth Anniversary Edition......Page 5 In 1985 . . .......Page 15 Foreword......Page 17 Part I......Page 19 1. The Medium Is the Metaphor......Page 20 2. Media as Epistemology......Page 33 3. Typographic America......Page 47 4. The Typographic Mind......Page 61 5. The Peek-a-Boo World......Page 81 Part II ......Page 98 6. The Age of Show Business......Page 99 7. "Now . . . This"......Page 115 8. Shuffle Off to Bethlehem ......Page 130 9. Reach Out and Elect Someone ......Page 141 10. Teaching as an Amusing Activity......Page 158 11. The Huxleyan Warning......Page 171 Notes......Page 180 Bibliography......Page 187 Index......Page 190 ''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.'' -- Fourni par l'éditeur 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. --Publisher 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. Cover 1 Copyright 3 Contents 4 Introduction to the Twentieth Anniversary Edition 5 In 1985 . . . 15 Foreword 17 Part I 19 1. The Medium Is the Metaphor 20 2. Media as Epistemology 33 3. Typographic America 47 4. The Typographic Mind 61 5. The Peek-a-Boo World 81 Part II 98 6. The Age of Show Business 99 7. "Now . . . This" 115 8. Shuffle Off to Bethlehem 130 9. Reach Out and Elect Someone 141 10. Teaching as an Amusing Activity 158 11. The Huxleyan Warning 171 Notes 180 Bibliography 187 Index 190 014303653X At different times in our history, different cities have been the focal point of a radiating American spirit.