Marshall McLuhan

by W. Terrence Gordon

Gaining fame and controversy in the 1960s with his proposal that television was creating a "global village" and that the medium itself, not the messages it carried, was influencing the public, media critic Marshall McLuhan was idolized by some and vilified by others. He died in 1980. As a mascot for today's cyber-set, this is the perfect time for this thoroughly researched re-evaluation of his writings and teachings photo insert.

Genres: Biography, Music, Art, Politics

465 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 1961

Reviews

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

W. Terrence Gordon provides a comprehensive and thoughtful overview of Marshall McLuhan’s life and work. The book begins with the media luminary’s familial background in Canada, gradually tracing his course through academia and industry. The author aptly maps his movements across fields of thought and practice, as well as his relationships with the people he knew. A profoundly religious man, McLuhan has proven an enduringly misunderstood and controversial figure. The closing chapters present a sort of exegesis of McLuhan’s thought, particularly with regards to common issues in understanding.

The book itself is simple enough to read, but some extracts included within could have been better introduced and explained. McLuhan’s views on society certainly merit consideration, as does this book.

[Doug Irvine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very well written and deserves a higher rating but and it's a big but. I think this book could only be understood if you already have a degrees in media and linguistics and if you do you don't need to read this book you probably already understand McLuhan. I was looking for something the layman could understand and this is not it! I guess it's Marshall McLuhan for Dummies or a children's version of media is the message for me.

[Davis Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than the Marchand biography for actually explaining the genesis and background of M's ideas, but the overall quality of the biographies is very similar, just with different emphases

[Reinhardt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A workman-like biography giving the essential details of his life going back to his great-grandparents. At times the detail is distracting and not supportive of the narrative, but I suppose it sets up the book as a reference work. The writing is solid but not artful.

Intermixed with the biographical details is a summary of his main books and his major ideas. Reasonably good explanations are laid out for all McLuhan's big ideas. Many common misunderstandings of his work are clarified. The work may be a bit too critical of those who disagree with McLuhan. All criticism is dismissed as largely invalid- something that stretches credibility.

I would have preferred a biography that separated his life details from the development of his thought. Some of his life details assist in understanding his perspectives, but I think we would be better served with a short volume on his life and a full volume on his intellectual development and the fleshing out of his ideas and influences as well as his interactions with other scholars. Some of that is attempted in this work, but it feels incomplete.

Overall, a worthwhile read if you are interested in McLuahn, but not a something to read for general biography.

[Tim Weakley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a terrific read for me. I wanted more of a biography and less of a educational treatise on McLuhan's philosophy. A lot of the book, in fact most of the discussion of field/ground in media, was way beyond my understanding and interest. There were a few bright spots including the explanation of "the medium is the message", but I reeally enjoyed the actual biographical portions of the book the most.