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Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business - GOOD

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eBay item number:274275436455

Last updated on May 25, 2024 14:04:17 PDTView all revisionsView all revisions

Item specifics

Condition: Good: A book that has been read but is in good condition. Very minimal damage to the cover including ... Good: A book that has been read but is in good condition. Very minimal damage to the cover including scuff marks, but no holes or tears. The dust jacket for hard covers may not be included. Binding has minimal wear. The majority of pages are undamaged with minimal creasing or tearing, minimal pencil underlining of text, no highlighting of text, no writing in margins. No missing pages. See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections. See all condition definitionsopens in a new window or tab

Brand: Unbranded

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ISBN: 014303653X

Book Title: Amusing Ourselves to Death : Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

Item Length: 7.7in

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group

Publication Year: 2005

Format: Uk-B Format Paperback

Language: English

Item Height: 0.5in

Author: Neil Postman

Features: Revised

Genre: Social Science, Performing Arts, Political Science

Topic: Political Process / Media & Internet, Media Studies, Television / History & Criticism

Item Width: 5.1in

Item Weight: 5.4 Oz

Number of Pages: 208 Pages

About this product

Product Information

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.

Product Identifiers

Publisher

Penguin Publishing Group

ISBN-10

014303653x

ISBN-13

9780143036531

eBay Product ID (ePID)

11038281558

Product Key Features

Book Title

Amusing Ourselves to Death : Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

Author

Neil Postman

Format

Uk-B Format Paperback

Language

English

Features

Revised

Topic

Political Process / Media & Internet, Media Studies, Television / History & Criticism

Publication Year

2005

Genre

Social Science, Performing Arts, Political Science

Number of Pages

208 Pages

Dimensions

Item Length

7.7in

Item Height

0.5in

Item Width

5.1in

Item Weight

5.4 Oz

Additional Product Features

Lc Classification Number

P94.P63 2006

Grade from

Twelfth Grade

Grade to

Edition Description

Revised Edition

Edition Number

Reviews

"I can't think of a more prophetic, more thoughtful, more necessary - and yes, more entertaining - book about media culture." -Victor Navasky, National Book Award-winning author of The Art of Controversy "All I can say about Neil Postman's brilliant Amusing Ourselves to Death is: Guilty As Charged." -Matt Groening, Creator of The Simpsons "As a fervent evangelist of the age of Hollywood, I publicly opposed Neil Postman's dark picture of our media-saturated future. But time has proved Postman right. He accurately foresaw that the young would inherit a frantically all-consuming media culture of glitz, gossip, and greed." -Camille Paglia "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

Table of Content

Introduction Part I 1. The Medium Is the Metaphor 2. Media as Epistemology 3. Typographic America 4. The Typographic Mind 5. The Peek-a-Boo World Part II 6. The Age of Show Business 7. "Now...This" 8. Shuffle Off to Bethlehem 9. Reach Out and Elect Someone 10. Teaching as an Amusing Activity 11. The Huxleyan Warning Notes Bibliography Index

2006

Lccn

2006-275381

Dewey Decimal

302.234

Intended Audience

Trade

Dewey Edition

Item description from the seller

Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.

eBay item number:274275436455

Last updated on May 25, 2024 14:04:17 PDTView all revisionsView all revisions

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by susie1906
Aug 05, 2022Top favorable review
A must read
every parent should read this book. As timely today as when originally written. And great value on eBay.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-OwnedSold by: second.sale
by nickh715
Oct 08, 2010
Hyper Stimulated
Postman does an excellent job of pointing out our increasing need for visual stimulation whether via television, video or gaming on-line or at home. Concerns about our decreasing ability to use higher level thinking skills when our visual appetite is only satisfied with appealing colors and movement. This book is a well-documented discourse of the moral decay of our country and our need to be constantly entertained. I believe that the rise in the number of children diagnosed with autism, hyperactivity and/or attention deficits (disorders having to do with the ability to concentrate) are connected to the use of NON-STOP visual stimulation of infants. Consider the many mothers who dump their few-weeks'-old infants or toddlers in less-than-ideal daycare situations. Many babies ... Postman does an excellent job of pointing out our increasing need for visual stimulation whether via television, video or gaming on-line or at home. Concerns about our decreasing ability to use higher level thinking skills when our visual appetite is only satisfied with appealing colors and movement. This book is a well-documented discourse of the moral decay of our country and our need to be constantly entertained. I believe that the rise in the number of children diagnosed with autism, hyperactivity and/or attention deficits (disorders having to do with the ability to concentrate) are connected to the use of NON-STOP visual stimulation of infants. Consider the many mothers who dump their few-weeks'-old infants or toddlers in less-than-ideal daycare situations. Many babies are plopped in an infant seat in front of a television with a supposedly "educational" video running and have very little adult-child interactions throughout their day. The infant is thereby trained to interact with the TV, thus to NEED excitement and entertainment in order to "learn." Toddlers and preschoolers are parked in front of computer games to supposedly increase their IQ's and to prep for school--again with visual stimulation and movement. Gone are the quiet and pleasant times for little ones snuggling on Mother's lap to read stories--stories that year-by-year have more complex plot lines. At very few stops along the way to attending school are children encouraged to sit quietly and contemplate their world in peace or beauty--everything is about movement and color and noise and action. Sadly when they land in first grade they are expected to sit quietly, to contemplate the lines of forming letters and numbers, and to keep silent. Up to this point they've been trained, nay educated, to the world by noise and graphics. Constantly having their visual and auditory senses barraged with stimulating pictures and sounds. Children are victims of our technology. Parents lack common-sense and doubt their own abilities, rely too much on magazine "experts" with strange ideas about child-rearing. Dragging kids to lessons and sports and clubs is providing a childhood rather than one-on-one interactions (reading, playing a board game, washing & drying dishes while quizzing on math facts). Car-makers now design vehicles to accommodate "living" on the road: drop-down video monitors for movies in the back-seat to keep children "entertained." "Back in my day" board games and toys (usually requiring a sibling or parent to complete the deal!) were the expected gifts under the Christmas tree or at birthday parties. Summer mornings were spent doing chores, weeding or hoeing the garden; hot afternoons were spent in the shade with books, dolls or toy cars or trucks. Bike riding was the preferred mode of transportation to the swimming hole or to our ball games (with usually NO adults in attendance). Evenings were spent in the backyard playing hide-n-seek games with the neighborhood kids. Our entertainment was mostly self-generated and involved interaction with other living people. Our lack of common-sense and wisdom concerning family life and child-rearing is directly related to our reluctance to read and understand the best-selling book of all time: The Bible. Need a wholesome plan for marriage, child-rearing, home life, business, education, the future? You'll find it all in God's word. Postmand scratches the surface; God covers it all!
by d-waters5
Apr 11, 2017
Interesting
This is an interesting read about how TV effects out minds. However, I feel it is a little outdated due to the fact that the internet is the new craze. But the content is interesting and still applies in many aspects.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-Owned
by jpschubbs
Dec 06, 2007
Prophetic
Mr. Postman's book Amusing Ourselves to Death was a prophetic look at the way the changes in media affects an entire civilization. His contention is simple enough: as the vehicle for information changes from typography (the written word) to things like television and the internet, it will fulfill what Aldous Huxley feared in his book the Brave New World, that namely information will be trivialized to the point that a civilization will destroy itself through lethargy. He points out that television today is simply entertainment. The news is like a talk show, with music, and visual effects designed to increase ratings as much as possible. Mr. Postman is not anti-television, instead he zeros in on news shows, and other "serious" type talk shows, pointing out that these shows cannot pass ... Mr. Postman's book Amusing Ourselves to Death was a prophetic look at the way the changes in media affects an entire civilization. His contention is simple enough: as the vehicle for information changes from typography (the written word) to things like television and the internet, it will fulfill what Aldous Huxley feared in his book the Brave New World, that namely information will be trivialized to the point that a civilization will destroy itself through lethargy. He points out that television today is simply entertainment. The news is like a talk show, with music, and visual effects designed to increase ratings as much as possible. Mr. Postman is not anti-television, instead he zeros in on news shows, and other "serious" type talk shows, pointing out that these shows cannot pass for news and that no topic can be seriously discussed in 30 seconds to 1 minute. It's interesting to see him compare our media/tv culture with the reading/book type culture of the 1800's. I can't recommend this book highly enough.
by spiderdawg-half
Jun 26, 2014
A classic examination of the news entertainment industry
Why does the Weather Channel mimic the other early morning shows rather than devoting its air time to scientific inquiry and instruction? Will the Weather Channel ever have any females on their "Expert Desks?" Why do all the news channels cover the same set of stories in similar ways simultaneously? Why is it that clueless reporters interview other clueless reporters when nobody has any new information? Could it be that the networks synchronize their commercial breaks? A classic view of the broadcast industry of its time, this visionary book explains to today's audience just what it is we have become accustomed to. It reminds one of the 70's radio show "Blowing the Whistle on Broadcasting," where listeners were reminded weekly by Rose K. Goldsen "what our children see in the world ... Why does the Weather Channel mimic the other early morning shows rather than devoting its air time to scientific inquiry and instruction? Will the Weather Channel ever have any females on their "Expert Desks?" Why do all the news channels cover the same set of stories in similar ways simultaneously? Why is it that clueless reporters interview other clueless reporters when nobody has any new information? Could it be that the networks synchronize their commercial breaks? A classic view of the broadcast industry of its time, this visionary book explains to today's audience just what it is we have become accustomed to. It reminds one of the 70's radio show "Blowing the Whistle on Broadcasting," where listeners were reminded weekly by Rose K. Goldsen "what our children see in the world depends on what we show them." These days, it appears the only thing we have for our kids on all media is video games. Happy gaming, everyone!

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A classic examination of the news entertainment industry

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Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business - GOOD

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About this product

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Average for the last 12 months

Popular categories from this store

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A must read

Hyper Stimulated

Interesting

Prophetic

A classic examination of the news entertainment industry

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