Description
In his new book, perhaps the most cogent expression of his mature thought, Jean Baudrillard turns detective in order to investigate a crime which he hopes may yet be solved: the "murder" of reality. To solve the crime would be to unravel the social and technological processes by which reality has quite simply vanished under the deadly glare of media "real time."
But Baudrillard is not merely intending to lament the disappearance of the real, an occurrence he recently described as "the most important event of modern history," nor even to meditate upon the paradoxes of reality and illusion, truth and its masks. The Perfect Crime is also the work of a great moraliste: a penetrating examination of vital aspects of the social, political and cultural life of the "advanced democracies" in the (very) late twentieth century. Where critics like McLuhan once exposed the alienating consequences of "the medium," Baudrillard lays bare the depredatory effects of an oppressive transparency on our social lives, of a relentless positivity on our critical faculties, and of a withering 'high definition' on our very sense of reality.
Baudrillard investigates the murder of reality-"the most important event of modern history"
About the Author
Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007) began teaching sociology at the Universite de Paris-X in 1966. He retired from academia in 1987 to write books and travel until his death in 2007.
Reviews
Rarely do words convey such urgency as on a page by Baudrillard. * Los Angeles Times *
Prophet of the apocalypse, hysterical lyricist of panic, obsessive recounter of the desolation of the postmodern scene and the hottest property on the New York intellectual circuit. * Guardian *
The most important French thinker of the past twenty years. -- J.G. Ballard
A sharp-shooting lone ranger of the post-Marxist left. * New York Times *
Book Information
ISBN 9781844672035
Author Jean Baudrillard
Format Paperback
Page Count 174
Imprint Verso Books
Publisher Verso Books
Weight(grams) 193g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 130mm * 15mm
But Baudrillard is not merely intending to lament the disappearance of the real, an occurrence he recently described as "the most important event of modern history," nor even to meditate upon the paradoxes of reality and illusion, truth and its masks. The Perfect Crime is also the work of a great moraliste: a penetrating examination of vital aspects of the social, political and cultural life of the "advanced democracies" in the (very) late twentieth century. Where critics like McLuhan once exposed the alienating consequences of "the medium," Baudrillard lays bare the depredatory effects of an oppressive transparency on our social lives, of a relentless positivity on our critical faculties, and of a withering 'high definition' on our very sense of reality.
Baudrillard investigates the murder of reality-"the most important event of modern history"
About the Author
Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007) began teaching sociology at the Universite de Paris-X in 1966. He retired from academia in 1987 to write books and travel until his death in 2007.
Reviews
Rarely do words convey such urgency as on a page by Baudrillard. * Los Angeles Times *
Prophet of the apocalypse, hysterical lyricist of panic, obsessive recounter of the desolation of the postmodern scene and the hottest property on the New York intellectual circuit. * Guardian *
The most important French thinker of the past twenty years. -- J.G. Ballard
A sharp-shooting lone ranger of the post-Marxist left. * New York Times *
Book Information
ISBN 9781844672035
Author Jean Baudrillard
Format Paperback
Page Count 174
Imprint Verso Books
Publisher Verso Books
Weight(grams) 193g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 130mm * 15mm
