Picture 1 of 1

Have one to sell?

Sell it yourself

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

by Postman, Neil | PB | Acceptable

Last item available

Condition:

Acceptable

“Missing dust jacket; Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ”... Read moreabout condition

Quantity:

Last One / 6 sold

Price:

US $6.60

ApproximatelyC $9.00

Breathe easy. Free shipping and returns.

Shipping:

Free Economy Shipping. See detailsfor shipping

Estimated between Fri, May 31 and Mon, Jun 3 to 43230

Located in: Aurora, Illinois, United States

Returns:

30 days return. Seller pays for return shipping. See details- for more information about returns

Payments:

Shop with confidence

eBay Money Back Guarantee

Get the item you ordered or your money back.

Learn moreeBay Money Back Guarantee - opens new window or tab

Seller information

thrift.books (3589824)
99% positive feedback

Registered as a Business Seller

Report this item - opens in new window or tab

Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.

eBay item number:374317843556

Last updated on May 18, 2024 05:35:20 EDTView all revisionsView all revisions

Item specifics

Condition: Acceptable

Seller Notes: “Missing dust jacket; Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ...

Binding: Paperback

Weight: 0 lbs

Product Group: Book

IsTextBook: Yes

ISBN: 0140094385

Book Title: Amusing Ourselves to Death : Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

Item Length: 8in

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group

Publication Year: 1986

Format: Uk-B Format Paperback

Language: English

Item Height: 0.5in

Author: Neil Postman

Genre: Social Science, Performing Arts

Topic: Media Studies, Television / History & Criticism

Item Width: 5.2in

Item Weight: 5.5 Oz

Number of Pages: 192 Pages

About this product

Product Information

Television has conditioned us to tolerate visually entertaining material measured out in spoonfuls of time, to the detriment of rational public discourse and reasoned public affairs. In this eloquent, persuasive book, Neil Postman alerts us to the real and present dangers of this state of affairs, and offers compelling suggestions as to how to withstand the media onslaught. Before we hand over politics, education, religion, and journalism to the show business demands of the television age, we must recognize the ways in which the media shape our lives and the ways we can, in turn, shape them to serve out highest goals.

Product Identifiers

Publisher

Penguin Publishing Group

ISBN-10

0140094385

ISBN-13

9780140094381

eBay Product ID (ePID)

60703

Product Key Features

Book Title

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

Author

Neil Postman

Format

Uk-B Format Paperback

Language

English

Topic

Media Studies, Television / History & Criticism

Publication Year

1986

Genre

Social Science, Performing Arts

Number of Pages

192 Pages

Dimensions

Item Length

8in

Item Height

0.5in

Item Width

5.2in

Item Weight

5.5 Oz

Additional Product Features

Lc Classification Number

P94.P63 1986

Grade from

Twelfth Grade

Lccn

86-009513

Dewey Decimal

302.234

Intended Audience

Trade

Dewey Edition

Item description from the seller

Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.

eBay item number:374317843556

Last updated on May 18, 2024 05:35:20 EDTView all revisionsView all revisions

Shipping and handling

Item location:

Aurora, Illinois, United States

Ships to:

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan Republic, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde Islands, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon Republic, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Republic of Croatia, Republic of the Congo, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City State, Vietnam, Virgin Islands (U.S.), Wallis and Futuna, Western Sahara, Western Samoa, Worldwide, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Excludes:

Barbados, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Libya, Martinique, New Caledonia, Reunion, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Venezuela

Change country:

Postal Code:

Shipping and handling	To	Service	Delivery*See Delivery notes
Free shipping	United States	Economy Shipping	Estimated between Fri, May 31 and Mon, Jun 3 to 43230
US $15.99 (approx C $21.80)	United States	Expedited Shipping	Estimated on or before Thu, May 30 to 43230

Notes - Delivery *Estimated delivery dates include seller's handling time, origin postal code, destination postal code and time of acceptance, and will depend on shipping service selected and receipt of cleared payment. Delivery times may vary, especially during peak periods.

Taxes

Seller charges sales tax in

Sales tax for an item #374317843556

Seller collects sales tax for items shipped to the following provinces:

Province	Sales Tax Rate
Missouri (MO)	8.238%

*Tax applies to subtotal + shipping & handling for these states only

Return policy

After receiving the item, contact seller within	Refund will be given as
30 days after the buyer receives it	Money Back

The seller is responsible for return shipping costs.

Payment details

Payment methods

ThriftBooks

99% positive feedback

17.6M items sold

Visit store Contact

Usually responds within 24 hours

Detailed seller ratings

Average for the last 12 months

Accurate description

4.9

Reasonable shipping cost

5.0

Shipping speed

5.0

Communication

4.9

Seller feedback (5,197,106)

This item (2)

All items (5,197,106)

3***3 (833)- Feedback left by buyer.

Past 6 months

Verified purchase

Everything Perfect - Thank You

r***r (220)- Feedback left by buyer.

Past year

Verified purchase

Perfect as-described item, great comms, fast dispatch, excellent service - 5 ��’s

See all feedback

Product ratings and reviews

Learn more

Write a review

4.6

24 product ratings

19 users rated this 5 out of 5 stars
2 users rated this 4 out of 5 stars
2 users rated this 3 out of 5 stars
1 users rated this 2 out of 5 stars
0 users rated this 1 out of 5 stars

Would recommend

Good value

Compelling content

Most relevant reviews

See all 15 reviews

by steampunkdoc
May 13, 2017Top favourable review
"Insightful Glimpse into Technology's Evil Side"
Hailed, at times, as an apocalyptic radical, Neil Postman takes an unconventional, yet, truthful, mindset regarding technology, entertainment, and human communication. If you've ever wondered why people love modern entertainment, but can't explain why, this is for you. If you wonder what those pesky book-lovers see in the publications of years gone by, this is for you. If you wonder how propping up and relaxing to television affects who you are and how you think, then read this. This is an even-handed and fact-based examination of how human communication, specifically in the realms of entertainment, has changed over the years. Fantastic resource and read! It may hint and the flavor of a conspiracy theorist, were it not for every word being true, well thought out, and supported by facts, ... Hailed, at times, as an apocalyptic radical, Neil Postman takes an unconventional, yet, truthful, mindset regarding technology, entertainment, and human communication. If you've ever wondered why people love modern entertainment, but can't explain why, this is for you. If you wonder what those pesky book-lovers see in the publications of years gone by, this is for you. If you wonder how propping up and relaxing to television affects who you are and how you think, then read this. This is an even-handed and fact-based examination of how human communication, specifically in the realms of entertainment, has changed over the years. Fantastic resource and read! It may hint and the flavor of a conspiracy theorist, were it not for every word being true, well thought out, and supported by facts, studies, and testimonies. Even if you don't agree with the premise of the book, it would be a profitable read. It helps you further understand yourself, and how you think. Highly recommended!
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-OwnedSold by: silver-arch-books
by thunderkisss
Oct 05, 2006
changed my viewpoints a bit! great read
I got this book a couple weeks ago for a class. I was told this book was boring and dry so i wasn't too happy about it. When i read it..i realized that it was sooo interesting!! It was a bit hard to swallow sometimes because Postman is so harsh about some ideas and i didn't agree..but that's good to be able to read someone else's point of view and compare them with your own. So yea if your interested political culture and how it's "killing you" you gotta read....and if you have to get this for a class...don't be sad..it's pretty intresting...you can argure with it the whole time! :)I got this book a couple weeks ago for a class. I was told this book was boring and dry so i wasn't too happy about it. When i read it..i realized that it was sooo interesting!! It was a bit hard to swallow sometimes because Postman is so harsh about some ideas and i didn't agree..but that's good to be able to read someone else's point of view and compare them with your own. So yea if your interested political culture and how it's "killing you" you gotta read....and if you have to get this for a class...don't be sad..it's pretty intresting...you can argure with it the whole time! :)
by tiaza
Aug 04, 2009
extremely insightful, will change the way you see TV
Very well written and well argued, Postman's thesis is that our culture has shifted from being one of printed media to one of television and this shift changes not only the media through which we are informed, it actually changes the very content of what we are learning. Sustained reasoning requires the written word. To comprehend deep or subtle ideas, we have to be able to read a bit, stop and think about it, re-read it. But most of our information these days are sound bites - brief bursts of TV friendly, consumer oriented media flashes. It is not possible to sustain deep thought in this media. As a result, for instance, candidates get elected on face quotient, smooth public speaking and good looks. Fat or ugly politicians, no matter how good their ideas or how valuable their ... Very well written and well argued, Postman's thesis is that our culture has shifted from being one of printed media to one of television and this shift changes not only the media through which we are informed, it actually changes the very content of what we are learning. Sustained reasoning requires the written word. To comprehend deep or subtle ideas, we have to be able to read a bit, stop and think about it, re-read it. But most of our information these days are sound bites - brief bursts of TV friendly, consumer oriented media flashes. It is not possible to sustain deep thought in this media. As a result, for instance, candidates get elected on face quotient, smooth public speaking and good looks. Fat or ugly politicians, no matter how good their ideas or how valuable their leadership, simply will not get elected. Our culture is no longer one of thought but one of impressions, impressions we gather from 30 second bits of TV. Our news programs must now be entertaining, not informative. I think about the decline of CNN until "Robyn in the Morning" has devolved into shallow pap. How often does even the "serious" news reportage endlessly cover such inane events like Michael Jackson's lurid life and death? Sometimes I can get more information about events in the USA by watching the BBC World Report! I have not finished this book but already I can see it's going to be one I recommend to others and re-read many times - unless, of course, they make a movie out of it.
by raggedbandman
Mar 29, 2016
A Brilliant Must-Read
Neil Postman was one of our great cultural critics and commentators. This is his manifesto on the decline of literacy and the reasons for it, eloquently told in detail. This short book is on many '100 books to read in your lifetime' lists for good reason, it's brilliant. The precept that pits Orwell against Huxley, itself describes and answers more questions about our culture than you can imagine. Highly recommended.Neil Postman was one of our great cultural critics and commentators. This is his manifesto on the decline of literacy and the reasons for it, eloquently told in detail. This short book is on many '100 books to read in your lifetime' lists for good reason, it's brilliant. The precept that pits Orwell against Huxley, itself describes and answers more questions about our culture than you can imagine. Highly recommended.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-OwnedSold by: thrift.books
by aa10abbott
Apr 09, 2018
Insightful, important and timely in 2018.
Insightful, important and timely. A great book. Highest praise. Buy it, but be careful from whom. My copy described as good quality is in fact poor ragged and yellowed.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-OwnedSold by: thrift.books

Shop by category