Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fascinating book on an important topic--how television/media have become all about entertainment--that is even more poignant/critical in this day & age of the smart phone ("hey!--look up & talk to me!") and social media ("It's me! Me!"). Postman has a firm, cynical--bordering on snide--and authoritative voice throughout the book; he makes his case for the massive shift that television (& image(s)) have wrought on public discourse & thinking. It's only gotten worse since he wrote this treatise. It's getting worse still. But, I'm still a little cynical myself about all his cynical conclusions and think there is a proper & beneficial place for how technology has developed our abilities to connect and network with people all over the world. On the other hand, as Postman incisively points out, there are also great dangers to a distracted & enticed public. And, yes, advertising = the devil; when $$ drives what is shown & how it is shown & disseminated, you get deception, ignorance, and slick misinformation. Borrowed this from the library; read on my iPad.


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