The Truth about the Truth (New Consciousness Reader) [Paperback]

Walter Truett Anderson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

There is no longer one ``truth about the truth,'' observes freelance journalist Anderson (Reality Isn't What It Used to Be), who has compiled 33 previously published short pieces by postmodern pundits grappling with problems of belief, identity and society. In an engagingly skeptical, aphoristic voice (``look at the post modern world as a kind of jailbreak from the Grand Hotel''), Anderson provides continuity between sections as diverse as ``Symbols at Work and Play'' (which includes a relatively lucid passage from Jacques Derrida on ``the dubious relationship between a word and its referent'' and Stephen Katz's spoof on ``How to Speak and Write Postmodern'') and ``Science Without Scientism,'' featuring passages from Thomas Kuhn and Paul Feyerabend on the instability of scientific principles. Final chapters from Arthur Schlesinger Jr. and Vaclav Havel about necessary links between politics and faith suggest where Anderson's real sympathies lie. That Anderson has chosen some of the most accessible writings on postmodernism available is both a strength and a weakness. Academics may view this work as a remedial postmodern primer, while the larger audience for whom the volume seems intended may still be put off by considerable vocabulary barriers: a problem of readership that points up the continuing chasm between what's on the minds of academics versus those of more regular folk.

Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher (August 30, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874778018
• ISBN-13: 978-0874778014
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #547,268 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lucid and complete, August 10, 2000

By 

Douglas Doepke (Claremont, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Truth about the Truth (New Consciousness Reader) (Paperback)

To many readers, postmodernism (PoMo) is a vexed subject, smacking of trendy intellectual fashion. However one views it, Anderson's book collects a number of essays on the topic that anyone interested in the dominant ideas of the day should not be without. The entries are not lengthy and therefore persuasive depth should not be expected. Put them together, however, and a pretty complete overview of PoMo is before you. The editor has fashioned a nifty little introduction that lays out the general orientation in clear and understandable language - a not inconsiderable feat given the subject matter.

One point worth noting that is not in the book. Beneath the ideas promoted by PoMo lies a sociological reality captured in that forbidding word "multi-culturalism". There are many different cultures in the world whose customs and mores project many different kinds of worlds. This fact does seem to leave us with no common frame of reference to judge any of them as superior, a key PoMo conclusion. In that sense, postmodernism appears to be the perfect philosophical expression of an emerging multicultural reality. Nevertheless, wedging beneath the world's many and various cultures is another emergent reality - the global consolidation of private property, as represented by trans-national corporations and international trade agreements. Beneath PoMo's relativizing of cultural absolutes, there moves the monolithic grip of global capitalism, homogenizing all cultures in a consumerist vat. It at least deserves consideration that the former serves to conceal the latter from the view of secular intellectuals like post-modernists, and thus becomes the perfect cultural expression of a consolidating world order. Put another way, the power of Pepsi has conquered the outdated truths of reason and anyone who complains is practicing cultural imperialism. So go with the flow. Readers interested in how PoMo serves the powers-that-be should consult Terry Eagleton or Frederick Jameson.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good collection, February 16, 1998

By 

Jonathan Danylak (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Truth about the Truth (New Consciousness Reader) (Paperback)

Anderson's introduction and the first essay or two are worth the entire book.

Some of the essays are tough to grasp, but French philosophers of the age have never been easy to figure out. The other contributions well make up for the ones that are difficult, but the difficult ones are important, too.

This book is still one of the best discussions of postmodernism I've come across. The variety of contributors prevent any unilateral opinions about postmodernism, which is only fitting for postmodernity. It provides an excellent means of understanding current society and culture. After reading it, one will be much more able to recognize postmodern themes while reading current magazines, watching TV, or talking to others.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to the subject, November 29, 1998

By A Customer

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This review is from: The Truth about the Truth (New Consciousness Reader) (Paperback)

Postmodernism is swirling around us; we are in the midst of a great cultural shift that's hard to see when you're in the middle of it. Love it or hate it, you must become aware of it and grapple with it. This book is an excellent place to start. So much PoMo writing is dense, unintelligible to the uninitiated. The brief pieces in this book cover the broad swath of ideas and thinkers. Highly recommended!