The probing, provocative examination of television that Rolling Stone called "dense, funny, and smart as hell." In Smoke and Mirrors, John Leonard, one of the nation's leading media critics, offers a provocative challenge to conventional ideas about television. Instead of scapegoating television as the cause of crime in our streets, stupidity in our schools, and spectacle rather than substance in our government, Leonard sees something else inside the box: an echo chamber and a feed-back loop, a medium neither wholly innocent of, nor entirely responsible for, the frantic disorder it brings to our homes.
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
You can't find a smarter, more savvy, and learned couch potato than John Leonard, the literary editor of The Nation and television critic for New York magazine and CBS Sunday Morning. In the pages of Smoke and Mirrors he accomplishes something close to the unthinkable: he creates a convincing case for the merits of our collective viewing habits through thoughtful essays on what television tells us about ourselves. At times Leonard's knowledge of television programming can be overwhelming, as he clicks through the history of long-canceled programs with a frightening intimacy. In contrast to real T.V., Leonard always offers up something worth tuning into. He treats our tired, media-saturated eyes to such topics as what detective programs reveal about out confidence in the individual, how our sense of national coherence has fractured into multitudinous channels of individual identity, and what talk shows express about the need for a collective legitimation. Leonard's arguments might not always sway the reader, but unlike the boob tube, he rarely disappoints.
From Booklist
Finally, somebody has something good to say--and says it well--about TV. Into the frenzy of TV bashers currently enamored with that panacea du jour, ratings for program content, leaps media critic Leonard, armed with opinions that generally differ from the finger-pointing and shrill damnation of many high-profile critics. Leonard brings context to the debate. He notes dryly that "long before trash television, and the trashing of it by a Bill Bennett, the National Police Gazette ran a regular column called `Murder and Suicide: a Gush of Gore and Shattering Brains All Around the Horizon.'" That citation illustrates one of his themes, that popular entertainment and popular culture have always been shocking and horrifying to elites and, though at the same time fascinating them, to the easily shocked and horrified. As he dissects westerns, crime shows, sitcoms, and other familiar TV genres, Leonard underscores his points with pertinent remarks from a multicultural diversity of observers, including Gwendolyn Brooks, Herman Hesse, Molly Ivins, and . . . Marge Schott. Mike Tribby
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Almost unreadable, meandering nonsense,
By Wayne Paterson "allpar2" (Teaneck, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Smoke and Mirrors (Hardcover)
The introduction almost holds together as John Leonard ignores the scientific basis of television research and counters it with indefensible but plausible-sounding arguments. Then he talks a little about Ed Sullivan. Then he wanders around for another few hundred pages tossing factlets into our faces, seemingly without ever making a point, using logic, or doing anything other than showing off his immense knowledge of TV trivia and inability to use reason. This is the worst book I have ever read, and that's saying something. Each chapter is a wandering group of lists, as Leonard tosses out name after name after name, dazzling us with both the amount of time spent in front of the TV and his wonderful memory for actors and series - but there is no depth behind anything. No point seems to ever be made. It's like watching the images flashed in movie commercials - but for hours instead of 30 seconds. Watching too much TV seems to have left Leonard without the ability to focus his attention for any length of time. Do yourself a favor and find a book written by someone who (a) can actually make arguments, (b) understands how research is conducted, (c) has something to say, and/or (d) can actually provide information rather than rambling on and on for nearly 300 pages about his opinions on this, that, and the other thing, in the end without imparting any information other than some useless facts about Ed Sullivan (in chapter one so you can save lots of time by stopping there). I borrowed this book for free from the library and did not find it to be worth the price. PS> Most of my other reviews have all been positive so I'm not some sort of crank ... nor do I think I disagree with whatever Leonard's main point is, though I have no idea what that might be. And ignore the "this refers to the hardcover edition" comment, it's both!
10 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Some interesting insights, but pedantic and overwritten.,
This review is from: Smoke and Mirrors (Hardcover)
Leonard has never really been my cup of tea for a variety of reasons. Nonetheless, this is a book of important, if limited value.Unlike most people who write about television, Leonard is neither contemptous and condescending toward the medium, nor does he write publicist vetted puff pieces. Rather, he is an obviously learned and literate man who feels television is an undeniably important part of the cultural scene and worthy of taking seriously. There are some perceptions and insights here that are striking in their originality and in their ability to link some of TV's conventions with those of other art forms. HOWEVER...In order to get to these few nuggets one has to wade through reams of prose that is almost unbearably purple and self-concious. On virtually ever page Leonard sees fit to let fly with a string of overblown metaphors that more often than not collapse under their own weight into one large puddle of incoherence. It often seems that Leonard is more interested in showing off his superior erudition and word-wizardry than he is in cleary and effectively communicating his ideas. As with other stuff by Leonard that I've read, this book either had no editor to speak of, or s/he was asleep at the switch. The other major flaw in this book (from my perspective), is Leonard's flaunting of his puerile, tiresome (far)leftism. While he's admirably upfront about his biases, unlike some other cultural commentators, this doesn't make his inanities any easier to take(in some cases he is downright mean, if not mendacious). The gist of any point that he makes seems to be that if you disagree or deviate in any way from the world according to JL, you are not merely wrong, but also most likely an evil, selfish, hateful human being.His opinion on many TV shows seems unduly influenced by whether or not he approves of the program's politics (if a program has NO political agenda, he either has to huff and puff to invent one for it, or he feels it is unworthy of serious consideration)and whether it deals appropriately (or at all) with what Leonard has decreed are the burning issues of the day. All in all, Mr. Leonard's continuing career is proof that the political right by no means has a monopoly on tiresome, hectoring, self-righteous gasbags.
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