Antioch Road

Review: Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The problems Neil Postman wrote about in Amusing Ourselves to Death have been exacerbated in the 26 years since its publication. Postman posited that, at least in the western world, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (what we love will ruin us) -- not George Orwell's 1984 (what we hate will ruin us) -- was right.

Everything in our culture "has been transformed into congenial adjuncts of show business." This not only affects how we converse and receive information, but how we think, and not in a good way. In short, technology is not neutral; television is destroying us. (Undoubtedly, Postman would say the internet is only making matters worse, if possible, for he begins his attack against the telegraph as having introduced "large scale irrelevance, impotence, and incoherence.")

Postman is not against entertainment (including television) altogether, he is against religion as entertainment. And politics as entertainment. He is against the way in which our image and video based culture has replaced our print-based culture, for the form of the medium -- in moderns times, the pervasive medium of television -- affects the content.

Postman applies his thesis to politics, religions, news, commerce, and education. Think Billy Graham versus George Whitfield. Think about what we call political debates today versus the Lincoln - Douglas debates. "You cannot do political philosophy on television. Its form works against the content." As a result, "the content of much of our public discourse has become dangerous nonsense."

Television does this in a number of ways, including stripping away historical context, "ma[king] entertainment itself the natural format for the representation of all experience," and inserting discontinuities that undermine coherence (e.g., a news report about war followed immediately by a report of a celebrity arrest).

If you are reading this book review about a book that promotes the virtues of a print-based culture, you may have already convinced yourself that television does more harm than good. If so, Postman's book will provide further clarity to your conviction. If not, you will never view television (or, frankly, the telegraph or newspapers) the same after reading this book.

The only thing missing from the book is a solution, though Postman is pessimistic that there is one. I share his pessimism, except at the family level.



View all my reviews

One Paragraph Review: Self-Raised by E.D.E.N. Southworth

Self-Raised Or, From the Depths by E.D.E.N. Southworth

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is the sequel to Ishmael. It is a must read if you read and liked Ishmael (which you should read and like), for the two of them make one whole story. Though they make one story, this book contains much more intrigue (and the first one was not short of it). It reads fast and holds your attention throughout. Ms. Southworth is really an excellent storyteller. The ending of this tale is fantastic. It is difficult to summarize this story without spoilers, so I won't. I will just conclude with this: this is one of those books that makes you a better person for having read it, not least because of the virtue of its hero.



View all my reviews

One Paragraph Review: Ishmael by E.D.E.N. Southworth

Ishmael Or, In the Depths by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


How is this not a more famous book? Or E.D.E.N Southworth not a more famous author? The book's hero too noble or the author's Christianity too apparent, perhaps? Nevertheless, this story is so fascinating and well-told and its hero's goodness and industry so affecting, that the book is very hard to put down once opened. Written and set in antebellum Maryland and Washington , D.C., it is easy to see why Ms. Southworth could have been considered the best storyteller of her time, or, if she was not, it is hard to understand why not. The story opens under happy circumstances and shortly thereafter events take unexpected and unfortunate turns, leaving the hero as poor and unloved as can be imagined. (The alternative title is, after all, "In the Depths.") From there, it is the story of a poor boy striving to make good despite many obstacles and temptations. It is an inspiring and fun read. But the story is not complete, so on to the sequel!



View all my reviews

One Paragraph Review: Bittman's Kitchen - What I Grill and Why (Kindle Single) by Mark Bittman

Bittman's Kitchen: What I Grill and Why by Mark Bittman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a fun, quick read, and a handy reference, for weekend grillers like myself who want to start to branch out beyond burgers, brats, steak, and the occasional fish. In fact, there are even tips and recipes to make your burgers, steak, and fish better. The recipes take some preparatory work, though Bittman presents it in a way to suggest that the preparation won't take long (I'm a bit skeptical on that until I try and get the hang of the various marinades and know where to find the right spices). In addition to burgers and steak, there are tips and recipes for grilling fish, chicken, lamb, and vegetables. Some of the tips and marinades could apply to multiple meats.

View all my reviews

One Paragraph Review: Witness by Whittaker Chambers

Witness by Whittaker Chambers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a heavy book. (Having read the Kindle version, I don't mean physically, though the physical book would be that as well.) Whittaker Chambers is a serious man who lived by choice through serious events. He powerfully wrote about them in 1951 shortly after his part in them concluded. In this autobiography, Chambers recounted his unhappy childhood, his search for meaning in the "crisis of history" that led him to communism, his underground work for the Communist Party, the confrontation between God-less communism and Christianity, his break from the Communist Party, his efforts to protect his family from the Communist Party after his break, his work at Time Magazine, and his essential decision to become a "witness" against the Communist infiltration of the U.S. government. That decision came to be played out in the very public battle with Alger Hiss. Chambers wrote so well about so many topics affecting his life and his nation that the recounting of his underground Communist activities ends up being the least interesting part of the book (though interesting nonetheless). His telling of his confrontations with Alger Hiss and Hiss's representatives ten years after his break -- with actual hearing transcripts -- is absolutely fascinating. Just as well as Chambers tells of the events, he explains their meaning. I can't recommend this book highly enough. Its universal themes ensure its enduring relevance.



View all my reviews

One Paragraph Review: Unbillable Hours by Ian Graham

Unbillable Hours: A True Story by Ian Graham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Unbillable Hours is a quick and good read because it is a good, true story well told. It is a combination of Ian Graham's take on associate life at a large, international law firm and his assistance in helping to overturn Mario Rocha's murder conviction. Graham's tale of BigLaw associate life confirms what many lawyers hear in law school. It will be unrecognizable, but fascinating, to Iowa lawyers. Seeking to avoid the drudgery of endless document review, Graham asked to work on a pro bono case. His firm assigned him to assist on a habeas corpus proceeding on behalf of Mario Rocha, convicted for murder when he was 17. Graham's telling of Rocha's story is gripping. (See also the documentary Mario's Story.) His discussion of his own assistance on the case, while juggling the rest of his workload, is without significant bravado. Rocha's case clearly changed Graham's life. I am glad he told the story.

View all my reviews

One Paragraph Review: The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution: 1980-1989 by Steven F. Hayward

The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution: 1980-1989 by Steven F. Hayward
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the sequel to Hayward's book covering the years 1964-1980 (review here). It is, like the first book, excellent political history and a fun read. It picks up following Reagan's 1980 election and concludes with the 1988 presidential election, with an epilogue on the fall of eastern European communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union. Hayward writes from a conservative viewpoint, which leads him to be both laudatory and critical of Reagan and his administration depending on the context. Hayward draws heavily on contemporaneous media sources (often revealing the less than prescient nature of such sources). The chapters in Part II of the book on the Reykjavik summit and the Iran-Contra matter are particularly riveting and hard to put down. If you enjoy 1980s political, U.S., and Cold War history, you will enjoy this book.

View all my reviews

How to Raise Boys Who Read

I just came across a great column by Thomas Pence, president of Spence Publishing Company, from the September 24, 2010 issue of the Wall Street Journal, on “how to raise boys who read.”

Mr. Pence first notes the problem: The substantial reading gap between boys and girls, which dates to at least 1992 and is found in every socio-economic and ethnic category.

He then notes the harmful remedy being employed to address the problem: “meeting boys where they are” by “pander[ing] to boys' untutored tastes.” Rather than teaching boys to love great literature that would have the effect of making them “more likely to grow up to think, to speak, and to write like a civilized man,” our educators are giving them “books that exploit [their] love of bodily functions and gross-out humor.” The Day My Butt Went Psycho is the name of  a real bestseller directed toward boys. One school librarian holds “grossology parties.”

Underlying this pandering is the attitude that reading anything is good. I previously criticized the WSJ editorial board for this attitude in its discussion of the Harry Potter books in 2005.

This pandering in order to get boys to read anything is another factor in our creation of “wimps and barbarians.”

Mr. Pence provides the better solution: “[K]eep electronic media, especially video games and recreational Internet, under control (that is to say, almost completely absent). Then fill your shelves with good books.”

He concludes by noting that “[t]here is no literacy gap between home-schooled boys and girls. How many of these families, do you suppose, have thrown grossology parties?”

One Paragraph Review: We Are Doomed by John Derbyshire

We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism by John Derbyshire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is interesting that an atheist presents a better understanding of human nature and potential than many nominal Christians, but National Review contributor John Derbyshire does that in his call to a return to pessimism. In We Are Doomed, Derbyshire lambasts happy talk, including from too many conservatives, that lacks foundation in reality. He moves swiftly and deftly through a broad range of topics -- diversity ("nothing to celebrate"), politics ("show business for ugly people"), culture, education, human nature, religion, war, immigration, and the economy among them. As he notes, things are getting worse, they have been for some time, and human efforts to intervene and make them better have the opposite effect. Too many conservatives have, among other things, "are fully invested in the wrongheaded educational theories of our time" and "were made fools of by George W. Bush's grand world-saving project." Derbyshire is even the rare atheist who laments the decline of religion, at least the right kind. Somehow Derbyshire's pessimism is refreshing rather than depressing. After reading this book, I read an interview of former U.S. representative Dick Armey in WORLD. "It's a prudent thing for a man to know his limitations," said Armey. "When you're in a position of authority like public office, it's a moral imperative.... I'm amazed at how little introspection I see from privileged people." Both pessimistic and true, things that often go hand in hand.

View all my reviews

One Paragraph Review: Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor by Matt Latimer

Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor by Matthew Latimer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Whereas Noonan had her What I Saw at the Revolution, Latimer has his what in the world am I doing here? Latimer served as a speechwriter in House and Senate offices before moving to the Department of Defense as Donald Rumsfeld's speechwriter and finally to his dream job: presidential speechwriter, during the final years of President Bush's 2nd term. His account is funny, engaging, and sometimes saddening. Latimer clearly respects Rumsfeld a lot, but found himself disillusioned by a White House that lacked principles and coherence. The one strange thing about this tale is that Latimer sometimes presents people he didn't respect as too liberal and presents other such people as too conservative. We are left to wonder what Latimer's principles are, though smaller government certainly seems to be one of them. The whole book moves fast, but the fastest moving part is near the end when Latimer is discussing how the October 2008 economic "bailout" came to be, how few understood it, and how the White House worked to try to explain what it didn't understand. We are left, ultimately, with an unflattering picture of our federal government. Many insider books are flattering to the point of embarrassment and lacking in substance to the point of worthlessness. This is not one of those books. Latimer is blunt and honest.

View all my reviews