From the author of Teaching as a Subversive Activity comes a sustained,
withering and thought-provoking attack on television and what it is doing
to us. Postman's theme is the decline of the printed word and the ascendancy
of the "tube" with its tendency to present everythingmurder, mayhem, politics,
weatheras entertainment. The ultimate effect, as Postman sees it, is
the shrivelling of public discourse as TV degrades our conception of what
constitutes news, political debate, art, even religious thought. Early
chapters trace America's one-time love affair with the printed word, from
colonial pamphlets to the publication of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. There's
a biting analysis of TV commercials as a form of "instant therapy" based on
the assumption that human problems are easily solvable. Postman goes further
than other critics in demonstrating that television represents a hostile
attack on literate culture.

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