a book

Amusing Ourselves to Death

Name: Amusing Ourselves to Death
Rating: 5 (16 reviews)
Author: Neil Postman
ISBN: 9780143036531

Neil Postman · 2005 · 208 pages

What happens when media and politics become forms of entertainment? As our world begins to look more and more like Orwell's 1984, Neil's Postman's essential guide to the modern media is more relevant than ever.

"It's unlikely that Trump has ever read Amusing Ourselves to Death, but his ascent would not have surprised Postman.” -CNN

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.

“A brilliant, powerful, and important book. This is an indictment that Postman has laid down and, so far as I can see, an irrefutable one.” –Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World

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recommended by 16 people

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Ryan Holiday
“Some of the books that have changed my life and had the most influence on me: The Power Broker by Robert Caro, 48 Laws of Power, The Black Swan, life is unpredictable. Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club. Four Hour Work Week - Huge! 33 Strategies of War, obviously Robert Greene's Mastery. Pia Mellody, one of my favorite authors [Facing Codependence]. This biography of John D Rockefeller, maybe you remember it from The Obstacle is the way? This book by John Boyd [...] Malcolm X the autobiography, Great Gatsby, What Makes Sammy Run. A friend of mine recommended this biography William Lee Miller on President Lincoln. It was one of the books that changed his life. Had totally changed how I thought about leadership. The War of Art, Turning Pro - two favorites from Steven Pressfield. Haruki Murakami's book on running 'What I talk about when I talk about running'. Ellison's Invisible Man. Again another book from Pia Mellody [Facing Love Addiction]. Cheryl Strayed's Tiny Beautiful Things. Thích Nhất Hạnh's Taming the Tiger Within. The Brass Check - this book inspired the name of my marketing company and my book Trust Me I'm Lying. This is one of my copies of Meditations. Why Don't We Learn From History by BH Liddell Hart. Prescription For Adversity, a strange book biography of Ambrose Bierce that I like. Candide, interesting story I stole this from where I got married they had this on the shelf. I read it while I was waiting for my wife to get ready to get married and I thought hey I'm keeping this. [...] Second Mountain, this is a new addition to the shelf. Dr. Drew [The Mirror Effect] who introduced me to stoicism, Great! This is a cool book -Lincoln: the Biography of a Writer it's an analysis of Lincoln as if he was a writer. This book: Strategy by BH Liddell Hart influenced how I think about strategy.John Graves Hard Scrabble, influenced how I think about my farm. Fishing For Fun is a new book, I just read by Herbert Hoover about the philosophical benefits of fishing and yes Herbert Hoover, the president. Chesterfield's letters to his son [...] Seth Godin's the Dip, great book. Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves To Death. Jane Jacobs also amazing. Daniel Boorstin, great. Death Be Not Proud, beautiful book. So these are some of the books, it's my life shelf. [...] Oh Austin Kleon's Steal Like An Artist, great! The Way To Love by Anthony De Mello.”
Glen Mazzara
“This book is an incredibly relevant and prescient analysis of the mess we finds ourselves in. Brilliant.”↗
Aaron Bastani
“I recommend this book *so much* whether your politics are left, right or centre. We’ve had a 40 year experiment in the U.K. (longer in the US) where TV broadcast journalism has led the wider political debate. Its increasingly obvious that has been an utter social disaster.”↗
Tristan Harris
“Worth reading.”↗
Michael Batnick
“Here is Neil Postman on the Telegraph, which was the Twitter of its day. From Amusing Ourselves to Death Huge h/t to @patrick_oshag. This is one of the best books on communication that I’ve ever read.”↗
Renee DiResta
“The Neil Postman book that @ezraklein references in here - “Amusing Ourselves to Death” - is worth a read. As I’ve been working on my 📕 I’ve been curious ab solutions broached in other media environments. One of P’s main suggestions is that we watch less TV. Agency/adaptation.”↗
Timothy Burke
“@ParkerMolloy oh, this is great. I used a lot of this book when teaching Persuasion in Media classes 15 or so years ago.”↗
Patrick Collison
Nat Eliason
Patrick O'Shaughnessy
Keith Rabois
Timothy Keller
Matt Mullenweg
David Perell
Stephen Kinsella
Steve Lance