The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects (Penguin Modern Classics) - Softcover

Marshall McLuhan; Quentin Fiore

Softcover

ISBN 10: 014103582X ISBN 13: 9780141035826

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2008

Synopsis

In a dazzling fusion of Quentin Fiore's bold and inventive graphic design and Marshall McLuhan's unique insight into technology, advertising and mass-media, The Medium is the Massage is a unique study of human communication in the twentieth century, published in Penguin Modern Classics

Marshall McLuhan is the man who predicted the all-pervasive rise of modern mass media. Blending text, image and photography, his 1960 classic The Medium is the Massage illustrates how the growth of technology utterly reshapes society, personal lives and sensory perceptions, so that we are effectively transformed by the means we use to communicate. His theories, many of which are illustrated in this astonishing 'inventory of effects', force us to question how modes of communication have shaped society. This concept, and his ideas such as rolling, up-to-the-minute news broadcasts and the media 'Global Village' have proved decades ahead of their time.

How do we see the world around us? The 'Penguin on Design' series includes the works of creative thinkers whose writings on art, design and the media have changed our vision forever.

Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) was a Canadian educator, philosopher and scholar - a professor of English Literature, a literary critic and a communications theorist. McLuhan's work is viewed as one of the cornerstones of the study of media theory. Among his other works are The Mechanical Bride (1951), The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962) and Understanding Media (1964).

Quentin Fiore (b. 1920) is a graphic designer renowned for his collaborations with writers including the academic Marshall McLuhan and the futurist and engineer Buckminster Fuller.

If you enjoyed The Medium is the Massage, you might like Bruno Munari's Design as Art, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.

'The media prophet of the 1960s'
The New York Times

'In the tumult of the digital revolution, McLuhan is relevant anew'
Wired

About this title

Synopsis:

Well known for coining the term 'Global Village', Marshall McLuhan's thinking was, and still is, revolutionary. His theories, many of which are illustrated in this astonishing 'inventory of effects', force us to question how modes of communication have shaped society. This is an astonishing work by a truly astonishing man. "The Penguin on Design" series includes the works of creative thinkers whose writings on art, design and the media have changed our vision forever. This is one of four books in that series.

About the Author:

Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian educator, philosopher and scholar - a professor of English Literature, a literary critic and a communications theorist. McLuhan's work is viewed as one of the cornerstones of the study of media theory. McLuhan is known for coining the expressions 'the medium is the message' and the 'global village'.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 014103582X
• ISBN 13: 9780141035826
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 160