Empire of illusion : the end of literacy and the triumph of spectacle / Chris Hedges.

Incluye bibliografía.

The illusion of literacy -- The illusion of love -- The illusion of wisdom -- The illusion of happiness -- The illusion of America.

Chris Hedges argues that we now live in two societies: one, the minority, functions in a print-based, literate world, able to cope with complexity and to separate illusion from truth. The other, a growing majority, is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. In this ´other society,´ comforting, reassuring images, fantasies, slogans and a celebration of violence push reality, complexity and nuance to the margins. The worse reality becomes, the less a beleaguered population wants to hear about it and the more it distracts itself with squalid pseudo-events of celebrity breakdowns, gossip and trivia. These are the debauched revels of a dying culture.--From publisher description.

In the tradition of Christopher Lasch´s ´The Culture of Narcissism,´ Pulitzer Prize-winner Hedges charts the dramatic and disturbing rise of a post-literate America that craves fantasy, ecstasy, and illusion.