The Image, 50th Anniversary Edition

A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America

De: Daniel J. Boorstin, Douglas Rushkoff - afterword

Narrado por: Timothy Danko

First published in 1962, this wonderfully provocative book introduced the notion of "pseudo-events" - events such as press conferences and presidential debates, which are manufactured solely in order to be reported - and the contemporary definition of celebrity as "a person who is known for his well-knownness".

Since then Daniel J. Boorstin's prophetic vision of an America inundated by its own illusions has become an essential resource for any listeners who wants to distinguish the manifold deceptions of our culture from its few enduring truths.

©2018 Daniel J. Boorstin and Douglas Rushkoff (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Even more applicable today than in the time it was written

This practically predicted the rise of social media and the way that all of our politics nowadays has become a form a tabloid journalism, rather than anything of substance or value.

Great read

Good insight into US culture.

Quite disturbing to find myself experiencing what the author is talking about.

Thought this book would be anachronistic however it turned out providing a great foundation for my understanding of the culture of which I am part today.

still relevant

listen in 2022. the thesis is still relevant even though our mode of images changed

Boorstin’s deep Conservative mindset reaches through every example in this book.

The yearning for an America that never existed and the blaming of technological progression lead Boorstin to bemoan the changes he saw happening. While his definition of pseudoevents prevails today and does define a legitimate phenomenon in our culture, this has become a virtue signal for “fake news” and a great springboard for vast conspiracy theories. I do agree that this should be read by more people merely to understand the deep intolerance and disgust the Conservative lens views progress.