THE IMAGE

by Daniel Boorstin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 16, 1961

The author of this provocative, well-organized and thoughtfully written book is Professor of American History at the University of Chicago and has taught at many educational institutions abroad, among them the Universities of Rome and Paris and Kyoto University. Mr. Boorstin's is not a sociological study; he illustrates and illuminates many of the illusions upon which he finds contemporary American society feeding, and he uses the tools and evidence of a social and cultural historian. The author feels that the success and power of Madison Avenue, sensational movies and television shows, and both trashy and abridged books are dependent upon the American individual's demand for the illusions which these things create and perpetuate. He finds that Americans are ""ruled by extravagant expectations"" about ""what the world holds"" and about ""our power to shape the world"". We therefore demand different news stories ""every hour on the hour""; regardness of whether it is objective or even meaningful and important news; we demand new and extravagant celebrities, and, when we need more we make more; and we demand that larger-than-life photographs of exotic and faraway places be brought into our own homes. In short, we live in a world of self-created ""pseudo-events"", as opposed to spontaneous experience. The technological apparatus for creating these illusions have grown out of the Graphic Revolution of the nineteenth century, according to the author. With many specific examples, Mr. Boorstin digs deeply into such varied outgrowths of the Graphic Revolution (and our demands) as the power of Washington reporters, the hypocritical practices of The Readers' Digest, and the notorious events which changed Charles Lindbergh from a hero to a celebrity. Mr. Boorstin's discussions of the American press and entertainment are more convincing and thorough than his analysis of the dissolution of art forms in recent years; however, as a whole, the book is an important one and is worthy of careful consideration by all thinking Americans.

Pub Date: Feb. 16, 1961

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1961

Categories: NONFICTION