Rating: 
Summary: The Cultural Suicide of America
Review: Though the theme of Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death" should be a virtual truism for the thinking members of the human race, it nonetheless remains an extremely valid and highly relevent piece of social criticism for Americans that are concerned with their country's intellectual and cultural decline. What was initially introduced as a great innovation to humanity has become the premier poison of American society. The television, compared to which no other device of corruption can claim more victims, has waged a violent war not for but against the minds of men.Postman points to a period of America's past, barely over a century ago, in which he argues one can find the most literate society in history. Though such a claim is, of course, debatable, it is more significantly intended to draw our attention to the phenomenal and depressing decline in American literacy since the advent of revolutionary communication tools, like the telegraph and the television. Gone are the times when simple, working-class men like Thomas Paine could influence his countrymen with brilliant literary essays like "Common Sense", "The Rights of Man", and "The Age Reason". The Lincoln-Douglass presidential debates, of which a single debate would last for hours and exhaust every conceivable issue in politics, would bring to shame the superficial, puerile squabbling of modern-day presidential candidates. Virtually every influence during that period, from domination to rebellion, was fueled by the power of the pen. In an environment that had not yet been polluted by addictive imagery and music, the voice of the people was established through the medium of the written word. And then came television. What television introduced was not just a new means of communication, but a new means of delusion, control, and intellectual corrosion. The television serves for a disturbing number of Americans as the only window to reality. The insanity that one finds in this window has become the dominant American world view. American values are what one finds when one turns on the television. These values appeal to the lowest, most primitive animal instincts that have ever debased human beings. Americans are no longer guided by the noble principles of reason but rather by their animal desires, which are easily exploited by commercial interests. The mindless storyline of the soap opera, the idiotic ranting of the music video, the barbaric release of testosterone in professional football, have all reduced American culture an orgy of stupidity, a stupidity that plays a perfect role in the context of consumerism. Modern discourse is no longer appreciated for its intellectual content but by virtue of its value as a means of entertainment. This irrational standard has adulterated every aspect of modern American life. Politics should serve as the most poignant example. Rather than addressing complex issues in the specific and comprehensive fashion that characterized the Lincoln-Douglass debates, the modern presidential candidate wins his votes by mud-slinging and mindless sloganeering. We are lucky if the modern presidential candidate is even educated in current affairs. We can bear witness to the most deplorable example of this decadent trend in our own day, that of George W. Bush, whose ignorance on foreign policy exceeds that of a schoolboy. His example should serve as a testament to the truth of Postman's 1984 thesis, of how mindless and superficial modern politics has become. Unfortunately, the standard of entertainment does not stop at politics. We witness this standard in education, art, and even religion. The financial and influential success of first-class imposters like Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, Oral Roberts, and Pat Robertson demonstrate the ignobility into which religion in America has plunged. To anybody that holds even the most modest concern for the intellectual health of modern society, it should be a crime to ignore Postman's book. It is a call for Americans to wake up and realize how far they've allowed themselves to fall into intellectual and cultural decadence. Furthermore, we should acknowledge the fact that this cultural infection is not being contained within U.S. borders. Globalism is forcing American values into every nation on earth. America does not need to send her armies to colonize other peoples. She just has to send her television programs.
Rating:
Summary: Postman's Thesis is Powerful, Provocative, and Important!
Review: For anyone interested in exploring the meaning of the rapid eclipse of ordinary reality and how it is being changed and altered by the rise of the electronic media, this book is very important. From the introduction and Postman's tongue-in-cheek comments about the novel 1984, his observations regarding the cogency of British author Aldous Huxley's technotronic nightmare vision in "Brave New World" through out the book right up to its conclusion, Postman binds your interest by illustrating and documenting how the rise of the elecrtonic media and its manipulation of what you see in way of news and entertainment has inexorably changed the meanings,purposes and ultimate uses of politics, economics, and technology. As Huxley himslef warned, totalitarian societies need not arise through violent overthrow of the democracies using brutality, cruelty and violence, but can also occur whenever the citizenry is successfully deluded into apathy by petty diversions and entertainments, as well. Postman shows how the electronic media's presentation of facts and fcition in an entertaining fashion diverts us, channeling our attention, money, and energies in ways that make us much more susceptible to social, political and economic manipulation and eventual subjugation. The book is a bit difficult to read at points, but well worth a sustained effort and a little concentration. For any citizen concerned about how the media is rapidly changing the rules of political, social, and economic engagement, and what it portends for the future, this book is a must read. And follow it up with Postman's book "Technopoly", which picks up where this book leaves off.
Rating: 
Summary: Postman set to music
Review: I buy into the Postman thesis and find the general lack of media literacy in contemporary society a little scary. Okay, granted, those of us that post reviews to Amazon possibly spend a little more time than the mean in thinking about the media we consume. I would wish more people to read books like this, and such things as Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent. However, as media thesis are not for everyone, could I plug the musical version of the book (kind of) - Roger Water's album Amused to Death, which seems to cover much the same ground.
Rating: 
Summary: An onslaught of pessimism
Review: What starts out as thought-provoking quickly becomes annoying. Postman certainly is well-versed in U.S. history. But to have to read page after page of unrestrained negativism over a vast array of technological advances since the invention of the telegraph becomes too much to bear. Furthermore, while a reader in Year 2000 has the benefit of hindsight (the book was originally published in 1984), I really have to consider the development of the Web to fly in the face of Postman's assertions. Although, I'm sure he wouldn't mind whipping off another bitter final chapter to try to prove me wrong.
Rating:
Summary: Man's Mistaken Identity
Review: Neil Postman's book 'Amusing Ourselves To Death' is an excellent look at the world today (more accurately in 1985). He explains that there is no need to fear George Orwell's vision of 1984, but rather to fear an older title of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. One which takes away freedom, the latter giving you all the freedom you want. Funny and witty, Postman gives a top rate analysis of the current media (second to McLuhan). I dont see this book as a prediction of any sort, but rather observing the direction the media of print and television is headed. Television has been given so much authority that it does not matter whats on it, so much that its on. Postman declares that television has the power to do away with books by the sheer hypnotic power that television has over print. And this, by being in a trance and reclining in our sofas to and forgetting about the world (and what the GOVT is doing) is just as fatal as the government getting involved in every aspect of our lives. This book is a nice read with some profoundness to it which will change your perspective on 1984, television and the way you live.
Rating:
Summary: Superb book, but slightly outdated
Review: This is simply a superb book, a real "classic" in its field. The author's logic and his data are absolutely overwhelming. The only possible flaw is that it is based on data 2 decades old. For a current update on the data and research in this field I would also strongly recommend Grossman & DeGaetano's "Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill," which has the added benefit of addressing the impact of the new violent video games, and incorporating some interesting military data.
Rating: 
Summary: these predictions FAILED miserably!
Review: Postman posits that people will come to " "adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think." Hmm...I wonder what he'd say about amazon.com or the litany of book superstores that pepper our suburbs. Postman's flamboyant declinism is nothing less than ridiculous.
Rating:
Summary: Can We Stop The Madness?
Review: This book explores in great detail the problem our youth faces with the ongoing infiltration of television into our society. Takes the entertainment tool and shows how it is running our lives. Well written masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: A great book on mass media
Review: This book is a great learning tool for anyone studing mass media,as long as the reader can separate the facts from Postman's opinion. It served as a great book to enhance my studies in mass media. I would recommend this book to someone who is studying mass media or who wants to gain an insight into mass media.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Analysis
Review: This book uncovered the biggest problem in today's society with America's youth and adults, the television. Watch as the television takes over all of your thoughts and conversations. Read a book instead of watching the tube, it can do all some good!
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