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Political Sign
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Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.
In an election year, political signs can be impossible to avoid. They're in front yards, on bumper stickers, and in some places you might never have expected. Tobias Carroll chronicles the permutations and secret histories of political signs, venturing into the story o ...more
In an election year, political signs can be impossible to avoid. They're in front yards, on bumper stickers, and in some places you might never have expected. Tobias Carroll chronicles the permutations and secret histories of political signs, venturing into the story o ...more
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Paperback, 192 pages
Published
September 3rd 2020
by Bloomsbury Academic
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This is the first of Bloomsbury Object Lesson series I have read, a short monograph style on a particular piece of ephemera, trying to knit together a brief history, with thoughts and discussions on the importance of that item. As such this is probably an odd one compared to say the one on Trains or Bulletproof Vests - as what consists a Political Sign is a very broad church. And this is also an openly personal take on the subject, Carroll talks about his own history with political signs as some
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This series of books – the list of which will soon breach a second page in every edition, so long it's getting, no matter the font shrinking – is designed to discuss semi-academically something we routinely find around us, or don't realise is culturally significant enough to have a non-fiction book dedicated to it. They're not for the specialists regarding each and every topic, for they're designed to be for the lay browser, in a collect-the-set fashion. This book, on the political sign, is one
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With the recent ending of the 2020 U.S. election season over, at least as far as voting, I figured I could approach this book. Honestly, there is way too many political signs, commercials, mailers and everything else thrown at you for long months when there’s an upcoming election. It can become exhausting just sifting through the daily mail of circulars by the various candidates.
There is a good reason behind that, which Tobias Carroll points out early on, which is name recognition. That is one ...more
There is a good reason behind that, which Tobias Carroll points out early on, which is name recognition. That is one ...more

Jun 12, 2020
CJ
rated it
liked it
Shelves:
historical-non-fiction,
netgalley,
own,
novella,
series,
quick-easy-read,
villains-need-love-too
Another great entry into the Bloomsbury Academic Object Lessons series. It was interesting and thought-provoking, but even with the detour into punk vs politics, it was missing some of the whimsy I have grown to expect from the series.
Unfortunately for Carroll, he asks the exact question I have been asking continually, for years: "what happens when a politician lies.". It is a question that bookends a chapter, so there is no answer given ... probably because the answer is nothing &*^%$# happens ...more
Unfortunately for Carroll, he asks the exact question I have been asking continually, for years: "what happens when a politician lies.". It is a question that bookends a chapter, so there is no answer given ... probably because the answer is nothing &*^%$# happens ...more

This is one of my favorites in the Object Lessons series. Carroll looks at all types of political signs - from yard signs to bumper stickers, billboard, and even the most personal of political signs -- tattoos and examines why they are used and what makes people use them. He explores the concept of media literacy which he defines understanding why something is being broadcast - figuratively or literally - in front of you. I liked the mix of personal anecdotes with analysis. Carroll's writing is
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