The Image A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America

by BOORSTIN, DANIEL J.

• ISBN13: 9780679741800
• ISBN10: 0679741801
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1992-09-01
• Publisher: Vintage

Summary

First Published In 1962, This Wonderfully Provocative Book Introduced The Notion Of "pseudo-events" -- Events Such As Press Conferences And Presidential Debates, Which Are Manufactured Solely In Order To Be Reported -- And The Contemporary Definition Of Celebrity As "a Person Who Is Known For His Well-knownness." Since Then Daniel J. Boorstin's Prophetic Vision Of An America Inundated By Its Own Illusions Has Become An Essential Resource For Any Reader Who Wants To Distinguish The Manifold Deceptions Of Our Culture From Its Few Enduring Truths.

Author Biography

Daniel J. Boorstin was the author of The Americans, a trilogy (The Colonial Experience; The National Experience, and The Democratic Experience) that won the Francis Parkman Prize, the Bancroft Prize, and the Pulitzer Prize. In 1989, he received the National Book Award for lifetime contribution to literature. He was the director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, and for twelve years served as the Librarian of Congress. He died in 2004.

Table of Contents

Foreword to the 25th Anniversary Edition	vii
Foreword to the First Edition	ix
Introduction: Extravagant Expectations	3	(4)
From News Gathering to News Making: A Flood of Pseudeo-Events	7	(38)
From Hero to Celebrity: The Human Pseudo-Event	45	(32)
From Traveler to Tourist: The Lost Art of Travel	77	(41)
From Shapes to Shadows: Dissolving Forms	118	(63)
From Ideal to Image: The Search for Self-Fulfilling Prophecies	181	(58)
From the American Dream to American Illusions? The Self-Deceiving Magic of Prestige	239	(24)
Suggestions for Further Reading (and Writing)	263	(32)
Acknowledgments	295	(2)
Index	297	(20)
Afterword	317
George F. Will