<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Credibility vs. Truth, Hero vs. Celebrity
Review: "A celebrity is a person who is well-known for their well-knownness" -- an observation from this book that is one of the most often quoted bits of wisdom on the subject of celebrity, and deservedly so. But this is just one of many quotable observations made by Boorstin in this prescient, clear-eyed look at the beginning of the post-modern world. Written in 1962, this book has been mined by writers on modern society of every stripe: French postmods (who don't credit Boorstin), Neil Postman (who does). Though it suffers a bit from the outdated examples used to elucidate his points about the "Graphic Revolution" -- his line in the sand between the modern and pre-modern -- the book is so cogently argued that it rarely matters. His main thematic device is to dichotomize pre-modern and modern/postmodern categories. For instance, in discussing celebrity he notes that the precursor of the celebrity was the hero. He explains the difference by saying that the hero was "folk" based, while the celebrity is "mass" based. George Washington was raised to the level of hero by the people for his deeds, his fame embroidered by them, cherry trees invented for him to chop down. On the other hand, celebrities -- the Gabor sisters to use one of his examples -- were celebrities before they even starred in movies. They were created by astute publicists and through their own knack of getting into the paper. He actually starts his discussion about how the image has come to be substituted for ideals in his first chapter on the gathering and dissemination of the news. He notes the rise of the pseudo-event, e.g., the press conference, the press leak, the crafty reporter calling sources and playing their quotes off of each other until the reporter arrives at something he can call news. He notes that newpapers actually used to contain reportage on events, things that had actually happened that were not designed to be covered by the media. Crimes, he notes in his summary, are the almost the only kind of real news left. (This before the era of copycat murders). A brilliant, insightful diagnosis of our image-laden world that still holds up after 40 years. The only thing that's changed perhaps is how accustomed we've gotten to the image and the extent to which we're now sold on authenticity by marketers. His discussion of Barnum as the precursor to advertising is worth the price of the book. His sections on public opinion polling, on public relations, on advertising are dead on, too. He also takes on the sociologists of the time for their "nodal" thinking, their bland concepts such as "status anxiety." No one is spared. The twist the postmods put on Boorstin's observations is that they say they take delight in the artificiality of the image, the bricolage, the spectacle, etc. (A postmod may be best known for their too-knowing knowingness and celebration of deception). But Boorstin is actually concerned about the destabilizing effects of the acceptance of the standard of "credibility" (which has supplanted "truth"). Too, he's worried that the American image we project is not based on ideas or ideals, but only things, only images. He says at one point that folks in the developing world prefer not to be hammered with the look of all things American, that it makes us look shallow as compared to those societies which are based on ideas (like Communism was -- ironically enough because it was founded on materialism). And though our images and our things apparently won out over Communism, there is still something pertinent about this observation. Pragmatism may have saved us from the ravages of idealism that gave rise to facist movements in Europe, but it spared us so that we could look empty-headed, only interested in moving ahead, unquestioningly.
Rating:
Summary: Credibility vs. Truth, Hero vs. Celebrity
Review: "A celebrity is a person who is well-known for their well-knownness" -- an observation from this book that is one of the most often quoted bits of wisdom on the subject of celebrity, and deservedly so. But this is just one of many quotable observations made by Boorstin in this prescient, clear-eyed look at the beginning of the post-modern world. Written in 1962, this book has been mined by writers on modern society of every stripe: French postmods (who don't credit Boorstin), Neil Postman (who does). Though it suffers a bit from the outdated examples used to elucidate his points about the "Graphic Revolution" -- his line in the sand between the modern and pre-modern -- the book is so cogently argued that it rarely matters. His main thematic device is to dichotomize pre-modern and modern/postmodern categories. For instance, in discussing celebrity he notes that the precursor of the celebrity was the hero. He explains the difference by saying that the hero was "folk" based, while the celebrity is "mass" based. George Washington was raised to the level of hero by the people for his deeds, his fame embroidered by them, cherry trees invented for him to chop down. On the other hand, celebrities -- the Gabor sisters to use one of his examples -- were celebrities before they even starred in movies. They were created by astute publicists and through their own knack of getting into the paper. He actually starts his discussion about how the image has come to be substituted for ideals in his first chapter on the gathering and dissemination of the news. He notes the rise of the pseudo-event, e.g., the press conference, the press leak, the crafty reporter calling sources and playing their quotes off of each other until the reporter arrives at something he can call news. He notes that newpapers actually used to contain reportage on events, things that had actually happened that were not designed to be covered by the media. Crimes, he notes in his summary, are the almost the only kind of real news left. (This before the era of copycat murders). A brilliant, insightful diagnosis of our image-laden world that still holds up after 40 years. The only thing that's changed perhaps is how accustomed we've gotten to the image and the extent to which we're now sold on authenticity by marketers. His discussion of Barnum as the precursor to advertising is worth the price of the book. His sections on public opinion polling, on public relations, on advertising are dead on, too. He also takes on the sociologists of the time for their "nodal" thinking, their bland concepts such as "status anxiety." No one is spared. The twist the postmods put on Boorstin's observations is that they say they take delight in the artificiality of the image, the bricolage, the spectacle, etc. (A postmod may be best known for their too-knowing knowingness and celebration of deception). But Boorstin is actually concerned about the destabilizing effects of the acceptance of the standard of "credibility" (which has supplanted "truth"). Too, he's worried that the American image we project is not based on ideas or ideals, but only things, only images. He says at one point that folks in the developing world prefer not to be hammered with the look of all things American, that it makes us look shallow as compared to those societies which are based on ideas (like Communism was -- ironically enough because it was founded on materialism). And though our images and our things apparently won out over Communism, there is still something pertinent about this observation. Pragmatism may have saved us from the ravages of idealism that gave rise to facist movements in Europe, but it spared us so that we could look empty-headed, only interested in moving ahead, unquestioningly.
Rating: 
Summary: Still Insightful
Review: Boornstin is such a prolific writer that it's easy to see how this book got passed over by most readers in the 60s. Coming from a serious academic, it must have sounded a stuffy attack on a progressive new medium (TV) and industry (Public Relations)...compare this to some of today's rantings about the evils of the internet. It's so insightful. The book is quite powerful in that Boornstin's observations of 1962 are now just commonly accepted.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: In general, I recommend anything Boorstin writes: his essays are lucid and his ideas are always perceptive. I read this book around 6 years ago and lost it. I'd like to order it again. What makes this book particularly brilliant is Boorstin's insights into how perception, specifically media perception, influences us psychologically and, thereby, reality. (Think of that Esquire Ad campaign: perception vs. reality.) Also, Boorstin is one of the few contemporary thinkers who writes clearly, without pretensions.
Rating:
Summary: A Major Social Theory
Review: Serious readers should be impressed by any book- written by an American Professor- that is still printed and sold over 35 years after original publication. Boorstin was a major 20th century historian who was never forgiven, by the common run academic historian, for not being formally schooled in history. Proof that it is not only the average high school graduate & his parents who confuse schooling for education. Boorstin was a major Professor of History at the University of Chicago who possessed two JD degrees, one from Harvard and one from Oxford, and who was simultaneously member of the American and British Bar. He had no former schooling beyond law school.
Even more unforgivable, Boorstin, a Professor of History, penned a major work of social theory and social criticism in the 1960s (when radical students would not allow him to speak in his own classroom)But then, many historians still insist world recognized sociologist-historian Charles Tilly is not a (tell your history teacher the proper article is 'a', not 'an') historian and many sociologists claim he is not a sociologist. No matter. Tilly's work stands long after his critics are forgotten. Likewise, Boorstin's work has outlived that of most of his critics.
"The Image" presents Boorstin's acute observation that in Modern American public life image matters more than substance, especially in the market place and also in the corporate work place. A criticsm I have of "Image" is that Boorstin did not examine the decline of character(substance) and the rise of personality(social lubricant). It seems to me that the cult of "personality" (Outpatient therapists mostly "treat" personality problems, not mental illness) goes hand in hand with the "image" and "pseudo-event" phenomenon he labels and discusses.
Although the Image focuses primarily on the news media, many tiny academic careers have been established by Professors who cannabalized ideas from "The Image" (The Lynd's "Middletown" is another book cannabalized by academics for "new" research ideas. I recommend "Middletown" to history and urban cultural anthropology graduate students who have no real research ideas). That is, more than a few academics have risen to full professor status and salary by compiling a 'study' based on an idea plundered from "The Image."
Readers who like "The Image" should find Erving Goffman social-psychology theory enlightening, especially his classic "Presentation of Self in Everyday Life," another book that observes image has become more important than substance.
"The Image" (and Erving Goffman's work) is well written, clear, even an enjoyable read. Boorstin is a major academic historian who writes well and who knows how to 'tell a story.' "The Image" is not just for swells, autodidacts, or intellectuals. Readers interested in business, corporate or govenment careers can benefit considerably from insights obtained from Boorstin. His "Image" (and Goffman's "Presentation of Self...") can be used as "how to" manuals. Unfortunately, some readers will use these observations to better exploit people.
Rating:
Summary: an important book
Review: the pace of media in the world today makes this book more important than ever. boorstein clearly and effectively examines the nature of images, specifically in marketing and broadcasting, and their effect on how we engage those events. rather than a bunch of drivel, this book offers a clear, descriptive examination of the changing nature of the way in which we view the world. as an amatuer sociologist and market observer, this is fascinating stuff to me. the number of nature of the areas he examines in this essay, while not exhaustive, is representative and substantial.
this book isn't a complete tome on the subject, nor does it pretend to be. one of the great strengths of boorstin is that he doesn't attempt to be complete. instead he proposes a thesis or a thread of ideas and develops that. he's skilled at this task and remarkably clear. in a nutshell, don't treat this book as the sum and substance of the topic, it's just a great essay on the topic.
nor is this a book describing the ills of the world. it's an essay describing the changing nature of the world in which we live. if we are to be active participants on this world, we should be informed and study how it changes. technology's effects are not demonized, their impact is just described.
the age of the book, some 40 years or so, makes some of the events under discussion seem quaint or outmoded, but frankly they're just a foundation of today's media.
highly reccomended.
Rating: 
Summary: Strong Start, Teetering End
Review: This book is kind of like an affair - exhilarating at the start, cooling as it goes alone and just kind of annoying at the end. Was instantly enthralled within the first few pages, the book seemed to so well encapsulate our modern society and its preoccupation with image over substance. The fact that The Image retains this ability despite it being first published in 1961 makes it all the more impressive. While the book certainly is dated, filled with quaint references to phonographs and the like, it is not outdated.
Some of the alarmism (or extremism) of the book might have been caused by the newness of the technology at the time Boorstin's writing. It is almost humorous to think of the stroke that Boorstine no doubt would have had if he had known of the profusion of technology to come and the way that it would only further facilitate this culture of images.
If I could offer some advice to anyone planning to read this book... tear out the last page. Burn it, swallow it, shred it - whatever you had to do to keep yourself from reading it. All along I had been asking myself what was the solution to the problems that Boorstine seemed to feel was represented in this post `graphic revolution' society and unfortunately for me I got what I was wishing for - Boorstine's solution. To end an intellectually stimulating book with something about as intellectual as a bumper sticker that says `hug your child everyday' was extremely disappointing. I won't really go into it except to say that you would be better off (and enjoy the book much more) not reading it.
<< 1 >>
|
