Empire of Illusion: 256

New
Paperback
2010
$15.92

We now live in two Americas. One,now the minority,functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other,the majority,is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority,which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected,presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this other America, serious film and theatre, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society. In the tradition of Christopher Lasch's The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death , Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture,attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies,to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion.

Synopsis

We now live in two Americas. One,now the minority,functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other,the majority,is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority,which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected,presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this other America, serious film and theatre, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society. In the tradition of Christopher Lasch's The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death , Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture,attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies,to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion.

$15.92

Quantity

2 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 240
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: Nation Books
Published: 11 Nov 2010
ISBN 10: 1568586132
ISBN 13: 9781568586137

Media Reviews

A trenchantly argued critique of the near-destruction of the American Dream by unfettered capitalism. --Philadelphia Inquirer
Remarkable, bracing and highly moral, Empire of Illusion is Hedges' lament for his nation. --Macleans
Thoroughly documented and written in a measured but take-no-prisoners tone.... It's bound to stir up its share of interest-generating controversy. --Booklist
Each chapter of Empire of Illusion makes a strong case for how different illusions...taken together are destroying the American mind, culture and the nation itself. --National Post

Author Bio

Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. He spent nearly two decades as a correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa, and the Balkans, with fifteen years at the New York Times. He is the author of numerous bestselling books, including Empire of Illusion Death of the Liberal Class War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning and Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, which he co-wrote with Joe Sacco. He writes a weekly column for the online magazine Truthdig. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.