Introducing Baudrillard [Paperback]

Chris Horrocks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 31, 1992 | Series: Introducing

This work traces the work of Jean Baudrillard, the postmodernist intellectual who has been hailed one of France's most powerful theorists. His style and assaults on sociology, feminism and Marxism have exposed him to accusations of promoting a dangerous new orthodoxy. The book presents his claims that reality has been replaced by a simulated world of images and events ranging from TV news to Disneyland. It provides accounts of his work on pornography, obesity and terrorism, and traces his development from critic of mass consumption to prophet of the apocalypse. It invites thoughts and discussion on whether Baudrillard is a cure for the vertigo of contemporary culture, or one of its symptoms.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Christopher Horrocks is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Design at Kingston University. His previous books include Introducing Baudrillard and Baudrillard and the Millennium (both published by Icon/Totem).

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 175 pages
• Publisher: Totem Books (July 31, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1874166366
• ISBN-13: 978-1874166368
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,849,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best introduction to Baudrillard's thought, March 16, 2002

By 

zarathustra (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Introducing Baudrillard (Paperback)

Ignore the above - like all the books in the Introducing series, this is an exceptionally coherent and successful overview. The format is particularly appropriate and successful in the case of Baudrillard, and it is possible for the intelligent reader to grasp all his key ideas. The best introduction to his thought.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars [price] worth spending, July 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Introducing Baudrillard (Paperback)

The "Introducing" series are very effective in my view because they both go in depth with the critical theories or foundations of a certain thinker and go through their less significant points. I think seeing all the points without sustaining all belief into the ideas of a person like Baudrillard is great by not getting too caught up in their claims. "Introducing Baudrillard" compares his significance as a thinker to other contemporary and past philosophy very well and being familiar with the intensity of Baudrillard's claims is well worth the time and money.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars not bad if you know how to use it., June 1, 2008

By 

D. Salas "a student" (New York, NY, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Introducing Baudrillard (Paperback)

I must disagree with the majority of the previous reviewers and say that I found Introducting Baudrillard to be a more-or-less positive, helpful text, if you use it in an effective way. Another reviewer mentioned how this book should not under any circumstances be used as "cramming" material or as Baudrillard for Dummies. I fully agree, because that's REALLY not what this book is. It's opaque, it's pretentious, it presupposes that you have at least something of a grounding in critical and cultural theory (and know its lingo), and frankly like all of the Introducing books, it's very, very poorly organized.

But hey, I never really ASKED the book to be Baudrillard for Dummies. I read The Perfect Crime on my own before, which left me intrigued (mostly by Baudrillard's hypnotic lexicon) but thoroughly confused, and I bought Introducing Baudrillard so I could get some clarity. It helped me put the stuff that I had just read into a new context and let me step away from my own conceptions of the work. I kept it handy while reading Simulations, and it helped tremendously to eek out some hairy things.

So in sum, Introducing Baudrillard shouldn't completely screw you over if you treat it more like an interlocutor and less like a teacher, if that makes any sense. Use it as a companion rather than a source. Recommended for those who want to slog it out through primary sources but wouldn't mind some company.