Customer Reviews

The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America

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"A celebrity is a person who is well-known for their well-knownness" -- an observation from this book that is one of the most often quoted bits of wisdom on the subject of celebrity, and deservedly so. But this is just one of many quotable observations made by Boorstin in this prescient, clear-eyed look at the beginning of the post-modern world. Written in 1962, this book has been mined by writers on modern society of every stripe: French postmods (who don't credit Boorstin), Neil Postman (who does). Though it suffers a bit from the outdated examples used to elucidate his points about the "Graphic Revolution" -- his line in the sand between the modern and pre-modern -- the book is so cogently argued that it rarely matters.

His main thematic device is to dichotomize pre-modern and modern/postmodern categories. For instance, in discussing celebrity he notes that the precursor of the celebrity was the hero. He explains the difference by saying that the hero was "folk" based, while the celebrity is "mass" based. George Washington was raised to the level of hero by the people for his deeds, his fame embroidered by them, cherry trees invented for him to chop down. On the other hand, celebrities -- the Gabor sisters to use one of his examples -- were celebrities before they even starred in movies. They were created by astute publicists and through their own knack of getting into the paper.

He actually starts his discussion about how the image has come to be substituted for ideals in his first chapter on the gathering and dissemination of the news. He notes the rise of the pseudo-event, e.g., the press conference, the press leak, the crafty reporter calling sources and playing their quotes off of each other until the reporter arrives at something he can call news. He notes that newpapers actually used to contain reportage on events, things that had actually happened that were not designed to be covered by the media. Crimes, he notes in his summary, are the almost the only kind of real news left. (This before the era of copycat murders).

A brilliant, insightful diagnosis of our image-laden world that still holds up after 40 years. The only thing that's changed perhaps is how accustomed we've gotten to the image and the extent to which we're now sold on authenticity by marketers. His discussion of Barnum as the precursor to advertising is worth the price of the book. His sections on public opinion polling, on public relations, on advertising are dead on, too. He also takes on the sociologists of the time for their "nodal" thinking, their bland concepts such as "status anxiety." No one is spared.

The twist the postmods put on Boorstin's observations is that they say they take delight in the artificiality of the image, the bricolage, the spectacle, etc. (A postmod may be best known for their too-knowing knowingness and celebration of deception). But Boorstin is actually concerned about the destabilizing effects of the acceptance of the standard of "credibility" (which has supplanted "truth"). Too, he's worried that the American image we project is not based on ideas or ideals, but only things, only images. He says at one point that folks in the developing world prefer not to be hammered with the look of all things American, that it makes us look shallow as compared to those societies which are based on ideas (like Communism was -- ironically enough because it was founded on materialism). And though our images and our things apparently won out over Communism, there is still something pertinent about this observation. Pragmatism may have saved us from the ravages of idealism that gave rise to facist movements in Europe, but it spared us so that we could look empty-headed, only interested in moving ahead, unquestioningly.

the pace of media in the world today makes this book more important than ever. boorstein clearly and effectively examines the nature of images, specifically in marketing and broadcasting, and their effect on how we engage those events. rather than a bunch of drivel, this book offers a clear, descriptive examination of the changing nature of the way in which we view the world. as an amatuer sociologist and market observer, this is fascinating stuff to me. the number of nature of the areas he examines in this essay, while not exhaustive, is representative and substantial.

this book isn't a complete tome on the subject, nor does it pretend to be. one of the great strengths of boorstin is that he doesn't attempt to be complete. instead he proposes a thesis or a thread of ideas and develops that. he's skilled at this task and remarkably clear. in a nutshell, don't treat this book as the sum and substance of the topic, it's just a great essay on the topic.

nor is this a book describing the ills of the world. it's an essay describing the changing nature of the world in which we live. if we are to be active participants on this world, we should be informed and study how it changes. technology's effects are not demonized, their impact is just described.

the age of the book, some 40 years or so, makes some of the events under discussion seem quaint or outmoded, but frankly they're just a foundation of today's media.

highly reccomended.

Serious readers should be impressed by any book- written by an American Professor- that is still printed and sold over 35 years after original publication. Boorstin was a major 20th century historian who was never forgiven, by the common run academic historian, for not being formally schooled in history. Proof that it is not only the average high school graduate & his parents who confuse schooling for education. Boorstin was a major Professor of History at the University of Chicago who possessed two JD degrees, one from Harvard and one from Oxford, and who was simultaneously member of the American and British Bar. He had no former schooling beyond law school.

Even more unforgivable, Boorstin, a Professor of History, penned a major work of social theory and social criticism in the 1960s (when radical students would not allow him to speak in his own classroom)But then, many historians still insist world recognized sociologist-historian Charles Tilly is not a (tell your history teacher the proper article is 'a', not 'an') historian and many sociologists claim he is not a sociologist. No matter. Tilly's work stands long after his critics are forgotten. Likewise, Boorstin's work has outlived that of most of his critics.

"The Image" presents Boorstin's acute observation that in Modern American public life image matters more than substance, especially in the market place and also in the corporate work place. A criticsm I have of "Image" is that Boorstin did not examine the decline of character(substance) and the rise of personality(social lubricant). It seems to me that the cult of "personality" (Outpatient therapists mostly "treat" personality problems, not mental illness) goes hand in hand with the "image" and "pseudo-event" phenomenon he labels and discusses.

Although the Image focuses primarily on the news media, many tiny academic careers have been established by Professors who cannabalized ideas from "The Image" (The Lynd's "Middletown" is another book cannabalized by academics for "new" research ideas. I recommend "Middletown" to history and urban cultural anthropology graduate students who have no real research ideas). That is, more than a few academics have risen to full professor status and salary by compiling a 'study' based on an idea plundered from "The Image."

Readers who like "The Image" should find Erving Goffman social-psychology theory enlightening, especially his classic "Presentation of Self in Everyday Life," another book that observes image has become more important than substance.

"The Image" (and Erving Goffman's work) is well written, clear, even an enjoyable read. Boorstin is a major academic historian who writes well and who knows how to 'tell a story.' "The Image" is not just for swells, autodidacts, or intellectuals. Readers interested in business, corporate or govenment careers can benefit considerably from insights obtained from Boorstin. His "Image" (and Goffman's "Presentation of Self...") can be used as "how to" manuals. Unfortunately, some readers will use these observations to better exploit people.

Boorstin first published this prophetic book in 1962. What amazes me in particular is the accurate depiction of our current media and journalism. The truth is told (and most do not care much for that), that seems to warrant the degregation this book receives. Each of his points are well supported by fact and logic, not to mention appropiate historical events. This book is to me inspiring, a breath of fresh air. He doesn't blow wind in your face. Today history has turned into an anti-imperical nightmare of contradictions. With the slaughter of history by social theorists and humanitarians it is refreshing to read a bona fide historian again.

Thank you Daniel J Boorstin...for telling the truth.

Miss Courtney Payne

I'm tempted to give this book 3*, because in my opinion any book worth its salt is efficient and readable, and something poorly written doesn't deserve 4*. However, the social commentary and insights are so brilliant and caustic that I have to give this 4*.

It provides excellent explanations for many of the phenomena so many complain about in modern society, and it is clear, accurate, and affecting. My gripe is that Boorstin makes some point in the first 3-4 pages of each chapter, then follows it with unnecessary examples. Unless you're obsesed with having everything restated and proved several times before you believe it, I advise you to read the first 4 pages of each chapter and then move on to the next-- literally. This book would be a lot shorter if it trusted itself a little-- the truths it reveals are intelligent and the reader identifies with them immediately, and the amount of proof and restatement provided is unnecessary.

Boorstin described what he believed to be a major change in culture, the substitution of image for substance. He saw that the ease of production and reproduction of visual imagery would lead to a diminished interest in the written and printed word. He saw the rise of the superficial manipulative public relations and advertising culture replacing one based on a serious quest for Truth.
His work has been enormously productive in that it has been taken up by many disciples among them the major critics of the TV view of the world.
Nonetheless I wonder what Boorstin would make of today's world in which there is not only such a vast ease in the reproduction and dissemination of visual images but also one in which written text is producted and disturbed at quantites beyond any known before.
This is of course written by one of those old- time word people who does share Boorstin's view that if you wish to study any subject in real depth you have to do more than look at images about it- you have to read about it.

In general, I recommend anything Boorstin writes: his essays are lucid and his ideas are always perceptive. I read this book around 6 years ago and lost it. I'd like to order it again. What makes this book particularly brilliant is Boorstin's insights into how perception, specifically media perception, influences us psychologically and, thereby, reality. (Think of that Esquire Ad campaign: perception vs. reality.) Also, Boorstin is one of the few contemporary thinkers who writes clearly, without pretensions.

It's been over six years since my first reading of this book, yet lessons I learned from Boorstin still pepper my daily thinking. His perspective of psuedo-events and the way humans travel in other countries shakes ingrained American paradigms. I've never attended a parade, watched a televised sporting event, or bought a tourist souvenir in the same way since!

Boorstin's work is an excellent and highly insightful analysis of current American culture; although first puplished in 1960s, it resonates with a wit and wisdom which is even more cogent in today's America.

Boorstin's central theme is America's preoccupation with being preoccupied...with itself. He maintains that our society has lost focus on anything beyond itself, beyond the media-made images of itself, and is wholly preoccupied with the appearance of things and, ultimately, the processes of creating appearances-- a kind of national and cultural schizophrenia. He concludes that this national narcissism--like the Greek namesake--can only result in languishment and demise.

At first blush, the work seems readable and straightforward, but this is not light reading. It demands careful attention and reflection. The payoff is a rewarding experience which should stand as a classic of its kind.

THE IMAGE by Daniel Boorstin is a seminal work on the popular culture in America. Though first published in 1969, it is as relevant today as it was then; perhaps more so given the clarity and vantage point of time and experience.

In the fall of 1975, this book was required reading in my freshman college Eng 101 class. It was interesting, I thought, but a little radical and not that profound. Silly me. The intervening years have shown Boorstin to be as insightful as he is prolific and a seer of our generation.

He drew the public's attention to the "pseudo-event" even as the marketing and advertising industry flexed their manipulative muscles in the popular culture; even as they merged art with psychology.

Making news and interviewing reporters and commentators has reached absurd levels, just as Boorstin predicted. This was long before CNN and MSNBC, for example, would make the news themselves instead of gathering and reporting events of moment and newsworthiness. Today, newspapers lament their demise and are going broke because they are no longer relevant in America. They have been replaced with the pseudo-event, celebrity, and inch-deep analysis by anyone with a microphone and an opinion.

America has confused the celebrity with the hero as we see in the entertainment, sports, and political realms. Long gone are the prerequisites for public acclaim as hero: honor, integrity, courage. Simply being well-known is cause for being well-known and worshiped at the media altar. Notoriety has replaced heroism in our country.

This book is a fascinating piece of insight, clarity, and honesty well worth the reading.