Ebook: Amusing ourselves to death: public discourse in the age of show business

Introduction to the Twentieth anniversary edition -- In 1985 -- Foreword -- The medium is the metaphor -- Media as epistemology -- Typographic America -- The typographic mind -- The peek-a-boo world -- The age of show business -- "Now ... this" -- Shuttle off to Bethlehem -- Reach out and elect someone -- Teaching as an amusing activity -- The Huxleyan warning.;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. --Publisher.