Forward Through the Rearview Mirror ? Reflections on & by Marshall Mcluhan

Benedetti, Paul

ISBN 10: 0262522330 / ISBN 13: 9780262522335

Published by MIT Press, 1996

About this Item

Seller Inventory # ABE-1623930766438

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Forward Through the Rearview Mirror ? Reflections on & by Marshall Mcluhan
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262522330
• ISBN 13: 9780262522335
• Binding: Couverture souple
• Condition: Comme neuf

About this title

Synopsis

Communications thinker and prophet Marshall McLuhan gave us the phrases "the medium is the message" and "global village". Today, with the explosion of electronic technologies and on-line communication, his ideas are more relevant than ever. Forward Through the Rearview Mirror is an evocative and visually exciting exploration of McLuhan's life and work in the context of the information age. The book consists of short prose passages, aphorisms, interviews, letters, and dialogues by McLuhan—many never before published—interwoven with biographical text by his biographer Philip Marchand and commentary by such cultural critics as Louis Rossetto, Neil Postman, Camille Paglia, and Lewis Lapham.The book is organized into four parts: Global Village and Identity, Medium is the Message, and Extensions of Man. In keeping with McLuhan's style of speaking and writing, the text consists of a series of brief entries, ranging in length from a single line to a page. The entries have been selected and positioned so that they can be read consecutively as a narrative or randomly as individual ideas. Throughout, the material by McLuhan appears in a different typeface and color from the material by others, to make the two clearly distinguishable. Part book, part magazine, part storyboard, this multidimensional look at the ideas and life of the patron saint of Wired magazine will appeal to anyone interested in technology, contemporary thought, and popular culture.

Reviews

Most folks know McLuhan as the Sixties sage who coined the phrases "the medium is the message" and the "global village." This nifty little book pulls together many of McLuhan's aphoristic observations in the context of writers such as Neil Postman (The End of Education, LJ 9/1/95) and Louis Rossetto (from Wired magazine). Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the book is the visual juxtaposition of current iconic images?e.g., O.J. Simpson, the Gulf War, and Rodney King?with McLuhanisms of the 1960s. Thirty years ago McLuhan was right, today he is really right, and this book explains why for the digitally confused.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.