Empire Of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle - Softcover

"Each chapter of Empire of Illusion makes a strong case for how different illusions...taken together are destroying the American mind, culture and the nation itself."--National Post "Thoroughly documented and written in a measured but take-no-prisoners tone.... It's bound to stir up its share of interest-generating controversy."--Booklist "Remarkable, bracing and highly moral, Empire of Illusion is Hedges' lament for his nation."--Macleans "A trenchantly argued critique of the near-destruction of the American Dream by unfettered capitalism."--Philadelphia Inquirer

We now live in two Americas. One,now the minority,functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other,the majority,is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority,which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected,presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this other America," serious film and theatre, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society. In the tradition of Christopher Lasch's The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death , Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture,attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies,to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion.