
Amusing Ourselves to Death
Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
Penguin Publishing Group · Print & ebook · December 27, 2005
What happens when media and politics become forms of entertainment?
We earn from qualifying purchases.
- Who it’s for
- A sharp look at what entertainment does to public discourse, politics, and the institutions around them.
- Themes
- Entertainment-driven public discourse, Media's influence on politics, Regaining control of media
- Genres
- How Media Works, Media, Politics & the Internet, Television History & Criticism
Nearest books
Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved. Most of these share its genre: How Media Works.
The Age of Surveillance CapitalismShoshana Zuboff, PublicAffairs54% match
The ImageDaniel J. Boorstin58% matchAlso shares Media, Politics & the Internet
Public OpinionWalter Lippmann55% matchAlso shares Media, Politics & the Internet
Bowling Alone: Revised and UpdatedRobert D. Putnam53% match
The Age of EntitlementChristopher Caldwell57% match
For younger readers: Big Lies
Start with three books, and this one can be the first.
Members get a new edition every morning: a route out from their books to essays, research and talks, with the reason for each.
Start with this bookAbout this book
What happens when media and politics become forms of entertainment? As our world begins to look more and more like Orwell's 1984, Neil's Postman's essential guide to the modern media is more relevant than ever.
Continue reading
"It's unlikely that Trump has ever read Amusing Ourselves to Death, but his ascent would not have surprised Postman.” -CNN Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. Now, with television joined by more sophisticated electronic media—from the Internet to cell phones to DVDs—it has taken on even greater significance. Amusing Ourselves to Death is a prophetic look at what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of entertainment. It is also a blueprint for regaining control of our media, so that they can serve our highest goals. “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
When Everything Performs
A sharp look at what entertainment does to public discourse, politics, and the institutions around them.
Come here for
- Thinking through television’s influence on political and public life
- Considering what happens when entertainment sets the terms of serious subjects
Expect
- A pointed polemic spanning politics, journalism, education, and religion
- A case for putting media back in service of larger goals
Where it sits
| How Media Works | 69% |
|---|---|
| Media, Politics & the Internet | 46% |
| Television History & Criticism | 35% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Television History & Criticism
- Media, Politics & the Internet
- How Media Works
- Authors
- Neil Postman
- Publisher
- Penguin Publishing Group
- Published
- December 27, 2005
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Entertainment-driven public discourse · Media's influence on politics · Regaining control of media
- Reading lane
- Television History & Criticism