by Chris Hedges
One word sum up Hedge's Empire of Illusion: autology. If you've ever wondered what the word is that describes something which describes itself (think: "multisyllabic" or "trochee" or "portmanteau" or "sesquipedalian, etc.), it is autological. In a book which so fervently rails against "spectacle" it...
2.5/5 I agree with much of what Hedges has to say (excepting his chapter on Porn, see below) but I don't agree with the way he says it or many of his claims about the "what" that he has identified as destroying the US. Yes, the US is clearly headed for worse times, and this is definitely in part a ...
This book brings up a lot of good criticisms against capitalist societies but it is certainly not without flaws. Hedges' biases are obvious and he seems to have a grudge against those he calls the "elites", that is, the wealthy and powerful capitalists that his book rails against. I get it, money ta...
Hedges vents his considerable anger with America's cultural and intellectual decline, and the penchant for most of our fellow citizens to choose the comforts of distraction and delusion over confronting the challenges of reality. I share his disillusionment.
Chris Hedges’ Empire of Illusion is in part an angry screed, in part a Jeremiad lament, and (in small) part a vision of a better America. With a mixture of raw anger and sharp analysis, he covers a wide range of topics–professional wrestling, brutal pornography, the military-industrial-educational c...
I never imagined anyone could write so eloquently on professional wrestling.
This book is not as flawless or as originally brilliant as American Fascists; also, there are passages that are more rant than analysis, and places where is lack of familiarity with the full spectrum of issues shows through -- as in some of his discussions of the economic crisis, and of Universities...
It will take me a while to put up a real review here, but overall, I agree with most of what Hedges has to say about the darkness all around us. I was a bit alarmed at his tone in the book, which made him sound like one of those guys parading up and down the street crying "the end is near" or "Soyle...
It’s end times for academics. Hedges bewails the plethora of in-your-face-ness in America: wrestling, tv, even government and universities. Thoughtful discourse is found tedious, he moans. “We are chained to the flickering shadows of celebrity culture….”No one who spent an hour in our country could ...
President Obama - "a product of this elitist system" - by Chris I'm-So-Bitter-I-Could-Die HedgesJust finished Chris Hedges' book, and am irked on so many levels, I'd be hard put to count the ways… Hedges' slim book, rather ponderously entitled, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph...
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