Customer Reviews

The Box: An Oral History of Television, 1929-1961

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This is a great book, funny as hell, about the early days of TV. Covers all aspects -- the technology, the first TV sets, the programs, advertising. The hilarious anecdotes from forgotten old timers are useful to anybody working on "new media" today. You read about early video being blurry on a tiny screen, about programs trying to concoct different advertising models, and you realize that the Internet is only the current new medium. A lot of similar stuff has been done before.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I've always been fascinated by the history of broadcasting, and this book is an absolute must-have. I purchased it several years ago, and I find that I regularly go back to this book, gaining new insights each time.

Jeff Kisseloff has written a fine volume on the formative years of TV. He takes some time to take you into the very early roots of TV and its intimate relationship with radio. He organizes the chapters simply by giving the reader a good readable introduction then following that with some wonderful oral history quotes to expand the chapter premises. The chapters hit most of the big topic for TV's early days. He really allows the participants to tell stories and give their opinion. When there is some controversy he allows those folks to tell their stories. I wish I could have been along for some great interviews and research that he did. I am a self trained radio/tv historian and he seems to have the basic facts in line. His stuff on the early days of TV is some of the best I have read. He also takes some big technology issues and puts them in understandable words. If you like TV history this is a must read.

I've heard Howard Stern did not like this book. This is not suprising that he wouldn't like something of excellent quality. What is suprising about this is that it reveals that Howard Stern might actually be capable of reading.

Hmmm...

I've seen more television that any human probably should (this happens when you've worked in a museum dedicated to the stuff...) and I can safely say that this book is the real thing. BUY IT !