Childhood on the prairies, 1911-1928; University of Manitoba, 1928-34; Cambridge, 1934-36; apprentice professor, 1936-40; in search of a home, 1940-46; twilight of the mechanical bride, 1946-51; the discovery of communications, 1951-58; the electronic call girl, 1958-64; "Canada's Intellectual Comet", 1964-67; New York City, 1967-68; unsold books, 1968-72; the sage of Wychwood Park, 1972-79; silence, 1979-80.
"The best-I might say the only good-precis of McLuhan's thought Ihave ever read." Los Angeles Times Book Review "Beautifully written... brings instant recognition of that weird,exhilarating vortex of ideas that McLuhan meant to us..." Globe and Mail
"The best--I might say the only good--precis of McLuhan's thought Ihave ever read." Los Angeles Times Book Review "Beautifully written... brings instant recognition of that weird,exhilarating vortex of ideas that McLuhan meant to us..." Globe and Mail
"The best--I might say the only good--precis of McLuhan's thought Ihave ever read." Los Angeles Times Book Review "Beautifully written... brings instant recognition of that weird,exhilarating vortex of ideas that McLuhan meant to us..." Globe and Mail
Almost 10 years after his death and 25 years after the publication of his Understanding Media ( LJ 6/1/64) , there is still much curiosity about McLuhan and his theories. These two books, different as they are, have one thing in common--they help to explain the man who claimed that electronic technology in the mass media has reshaped and restructured the patterns of our social and private lives and who gave us such familiar terms as ``the global village'' and ``the medium is the message.'' The books also complement each other rather nicely. Marchand's is a scholarly, straightforward account of McLuhan's life, with the facts and phases of his career presented in chronological order. The author has drawn in other pertinent material into the narrative, including excerpts of McLuhan's writings and talks, the comments of those who knew him, and this original thinker's emotional reactions to life. The Sanderson and Macdonald book is a representative selection of McLuhan's writings, including some of his famous aphorisms, and a collection of observations and essays about McLuhan by others. Both the McLuhan aficianado and the reader who knows little or nothing about him should be grateful for the opportunity to make his acquaintance in these books. See also McLuhan and Bruce Powers's The Global Village: Transformations in World Life and Media in the 21st Century , reviewed on p. 00.-- A.J. Anderson, G.S.L.I.S., Simmons Coll., Boston
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