First published in 1962, this wonderfully provocative book introduced the notion of "pseudo-events" -- events such as press conferences and preside...
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Dec 26, 2007
Owen
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"Always the play; never the thing"
A superbly titled and entirely prescient book, this one. As America's Graphic Revolution was spiraling with television, movies, and other 'images' created for easy consumption, Boorstin wrote about how there is simultaneously much more and much less to everything we see. This book was written in 1961, so many of the examples he uses seem so innocuous and quaint compared to what we're accustomed to today. Boorstin died in 2004, so how did More...
A superbly titled and entirely prescient book, this one. As America's Graphic Revolution was spiraling with television, movies, and other 'images' created for easy consumption, Boorstin wrote about how there is simultaneously much more and much less to everything we see. This book was written in 1961, so many of the examples he uses seem so innocuous and quaint compared to what we're accustomed to today. Boorstin died in 2004, so how did More...
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Dec 09, 2008
Eric_W
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5+ stars This book should be mandatory reading.
Boorstin, Librarian of Congress emeritus, is an outstanding social historian who defines pseudo-events as events created to promote. Generally, these events have no intrinsic newsworthiness. They are not spontaneous, they are usually arranged for the convenience of the media, their relationship to reality is ambiguous and they are intended to be self-fulfilling.
The news media hungers for anything to put in its pages. We are More...
Boorstin, Librarian of Congress emeritus, is an outstanding social historian who defines pseudo-events as events created to promote. Generally, these events have no intrinsic newsworthiness. They are not spontaneous, they are usually arranged for the convenience of the media, their relationship to reality is ambiguous and they are intended to be self-fulfilling.
The news media hungers for anything to put in its pages. We are More...
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Jan 02, 2011
Nicholas
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jul 12, 2010
Clif
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Good thing Daniel Boorstin is deceased. Facebook would send him to despair - but it would not surprise him, as it is a logical extension of what this book is all about.
What's the root of the problem this book addresses? It is that we demand and expect far more that real life can give, thanks to the illusions that the Graphic Revolution presents to us. The Graphic Revolution is the coming of the media (print, sound, video) that allow the creation of the pseudo-world, the artificial wo More...
What's the root of the problem this book addresses? It is that we demand and expect far more that real life can give, thanks to the illusions that the Graphic Revolution presents to us. The Graphic Revolution is the coming of the media (print, sound, video) that allow the creation of the pseudo-world, the artificial wo More...
Oct 30, 2009
Ross
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Written by U.S. historian and writer Daniel Boorstin in 1961 this book focuses on what the author even back at the beginning of the Kennedy administration called the ‘pseudo events’ in our ( U.S. )society as opposed to the ‘real’ world which he sees them replacing. While I’m a fan of Boorstin ( see The Discoverers ) and I have a lot of sympathy with his view of particular areas of society , e.g. journalism or advertising , I’m not sure his overall criticism is warranted . His view is proba
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Nov 24, 2009
Brian
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This book is a classic written in the 1950s, but every page of it drips with relevance to the media age we live in, that of a media environment ripe to distract from the real truth. Having been a member and student of the media, I understand the nature of image building through advertising and public relations as well as pseudo-reporting of events like press conferences and interviews. These days, with the glut of information coming in waves and waves, it is easy to see how individuals can latch
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Jan 06, 2011
Paul
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"The Image" provides an interesting discussion about what is and is not really news and about the manipulation of information in popular media. The author suggests that much of what we consider news is merely manufactured information and has little or no relevance to our lives. I found much of the discussion in the book still relevant and applicable today. My only complaint is that the book seemed a bit overly verbose and could possibly have been better organized. It often felt rep
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Jan 20, 2011
Justin
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Anyone who has struggled to untangle the writings of Karl Marx, Jacques Lacan, Guy Debord, Raoul Vaneigem or Jean Baudrillard, et al, will find this book, written years before The Society of the Spectacle, The Revolution of Everyday Life, and Simulacra and Simulation a god-send. Boorstin manages to one-up them by a radical new approach to social critique: just saying what you think. I know, this sounds daring and unheard-of, but somehow, somehow, it manages to work. What's more: he uses examp
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May 07, 2010
Alex
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I really enjoyed this book, which was apparently quite commonly read but is now fairly obscure.
Boorstin's book is about the cultural changes in America that have taken place since the Graphical Revolution in the mid-19th century, when "truth" started to become less important in people's minds than "representation." It is a history of technologically-produced dualisms: journalists shift from "gatherers" of news to "makers" of news; revered figu More...
Boorstin's book is about the cultural changes in America that have taken place since the Graphical Revolution in the mid-19th century, when "truth" started to become less important in people's minds than "representation." It is a history of technologically-produced dualisms: journalists shift from "gatherers" of news to "makers" of news; revered figu More...
Dec 26, 2007
Bob
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Published in 1961, at a point that now feels like it was the dawn of the age of fraud, though really it was already several decades underway even then. Falling chronogically and philosophically somewhere between Benjamin's "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" and Baudrillard's "America", Boorstin coined the phrase "pseudo-event" which has stuck around, and tried to coin "the Graphic Revolution" (by which he means mechanical reproduction)
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Sep 03, 2010
A classic Chicago School text on the rise of the Image in 20th century America. Written in the early 70s, followers of entertainment news and the tabloids would find Boorstin's observations even more valid nowadays. His definition of "celebrity": "Someone who is known for their well-knownness." Heidi Montag, anyone? The American obsession with image has led to an age of politics where candidates now orchestrate pseudo-events designed to appear spontaneous and revelatory but a
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Dec 22, 2010
Awesome. A really sharp breakdown of a notion called Pseudo-events. Which is essentially like watching the news where everything is a story but nothing has context or any sort of logical progression. Something always seems to be happening but none of it seems to connect. This is not a new book and still has the measured straightforwardness that more contemporary books have lost. It doesn't have the heightened and fevered pitch or desperate tone.
Jun 13, 2011
Daniel
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Fascinating book - I loved his treatment of how and when the Whitehouse started Press releases in order to control when news was made instead of allowing the media to decide when there was news to report. You may be surprised what administration made this shift.
Aug 07, 2011
Andreas
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A brilliant writer who identified some of the significant cultural shifts caused by mass media, marketing, and public relations before most people became aware of them (1961). And he's far more fun to read than McLuhan.
Jan 20, 2009
Academama
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Seems like I give everything five stars....but this was highly recommended by Conor, so that isn't so surprising. Clear, lucid, completely accurate cultural critique. And so relevant to the election coverage!
Sep 27, 2011
Sarah
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I like the deeper message here "digging for truth". Also the first three chapters were great, especially the one on the lost art of travel. This book inspires you to think critically, but honestly I was lost after chapter 3 and bored to tears.
Dec 09, 2007
Graham
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This is a curious book. Everyone reads this book when they take Media Studies classes in college. When in college, the student reading the book is usually on the good side of history. The problem is after graduation. In college, this book can help make a person a better anti-capitalist, but soon after graduation this book gets dusted off and packed away into the suitcase that the former idealist takes to countless job interviews at marketing firms.
This book is a lot like art scho More...
This book is a lot like art scho More...
Mar 22, 2011
Maxwell Foxman
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Pretty good! Someone antiquated, but not exactly that. It's just a touch biased.
Apr 28, 2008
Kassidy
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This book is so pertinent NOW. Daniel Boorstin is able to entwine history with current issues seamlessly, making all of his books (i have now read them all) fascinating reads. Where one historian can write dry prose, Boorstin enlivens it by pulling the issues into the present so that you can relate to them easily. The Image gave me an illuminated view on this election madness, and is a book I'll read again for sure.
Dec 16, 2009
Gopi
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Boorstin writes about the rise of the image as an accepted alternative and replacement for truth in modern and post-modern America. While his tone is sometimes curmudgeonly, his insights into what this crass substitution means for the modern day are stunningly clear.
Especially scary are his descriptions of politicians in the '60s, because of how much they apply to modern politics. Nothing ever changes.
Especially scary are his descriptions of politicians in the '60s, because of how much they apply to modern politics. Nothing ever changes.
Dec 17, 2009
Santos
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I read this book right around the time that I read articles and books about how architecture was designed to keep the homeless out of downtown L.A. Needless to say, it got my mind spinning and kept me alert with a critical eye. I haven't forgotten the lessons of all I learned during this time period. I still look at everything and search for the deep or "actual" meaning or motive.
Jun 12, 2008
Patrick
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interesting, bought it on the strength of title and the authors other books.
the premise gets laid out quickly and seemed to be just repeating itself by the time I put it down.
quite the jacket color scheme.
It also made me look fat so I only read in the quiet darkness of my basement. There are bugs down here.
the premise gets laid out quickly and seemed to be just repeating itself by the time I put it down.
quite the jacket color scheme.
It also made me look fat so I only read in the quiet darkness of my basement. There are bugs down here.
Dec 17, 2009
erin
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some of the theory put forth in this book is incredibly outdated, but the overall idea of the pseudo-event and the replacement of a core truth with news-constructed image is insightful.
Feb 28, 2008
Beav
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REALITY IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT.....brought to light some many ideas and concepts my simple mind never pondered, loved it. prolly gonna re-read it soon
Sep 02, 2008
Az: Part of my Media Studies. Related to Badrilluad Hyperreality and postmodernism. Considered the concept's predecessor.
Jul 30, 2008
Brianna
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A little repetitive, but a good commentary on the business of news media and its affect on reality.
