Culture Jam: The Uncooling of America

by Kalle Lasn

Book Overview

America is no longer a country but a multimillion-dollar brand, says Kalle Lasn and his fellow "culture jammers". The founder of Adbusters magazine, Lasn aims to stop the branding of America by... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688156568
• ISBN13: 9780688156565
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 251 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Very Important Book for our Times

As my title indicates, Culture Jam is a very important book for our times. Not many people are happy these, days, and most people are quick to point out that there's just something "wrong" with the way the world works. In Culture Jam, Lasn identifies many of the wrongs of the world in this critique of American/Multinational corporate and media power. If you've ever been treated unfairly by a large corporation, or if you're worried about the unchecked power and billions of dollars that every corporation (from Walmart to Viacom to Rupert Murdoch's News Newtwork) uses to change the world in its own image, then get this book. It's broken into four parts (named after the seasons), and shows exactly how bad the world has gotten and provides a light at the end of the tunnel. Lasn gets you fired up in the first half of the book, pointing out social injustices, and he proposes some ideas and hope for solutions at the end. This book isn't a cure-all. It's a call for action. It's a call for fat Americans to wake up, take control of the horrible world we've let come to be, and streamline the system. For the sake of your self, your family, and your planet, start with this book and look deeper for ways to effect meaningful change. For more ideas and an overview of Lasn's philosophy, visit his website. Do a search for adbusters.

Revolutionary

This book is a must read! A book of this kind is long overdue. For those people who have a deep dislike of commercialism and this materialistic society we live in, this book is for you. We have all been brainwashed by the media in one way or another. That is why the majority of the people around you are getting more disfunctional, emotional, and crazy; because the images pushed into our subconsciousness by television is damaging to our mental health. Television and media tells us who we should be, what we should wear, how we should look, etc; while at the same time disconnecting us from our true individual selves. In other words this book tells us that we have been "dumbed down" by the likes of rock 'n' roll, billboards, shampoo commercials, and the likes of; and that culture is no longer grassroots, but pushed on us by CEO executives of ABC, NBC, MTV, BET, etc. We cannot think for ourselves anymore in this so-called American culture because of consumerism. I can go on and on about how in the first chapter Kalle Lasn explains how the need of people to imitate the "perfect image" causes depression, anxiety, and disorders in youth and women. This is a very very important book and must be read as many people as possible.

an introduction to the new revolution

culture jam shows the shallowness and destructiveness of our american culture that has been designed to keep us buying cra we dont need and our minds dormant of critical thought. for a long time i have known that i really dont need new nikes at the mall, and lasn shows us why we think we need them, and the steep environmental and cultural price we pay for overconsumption. after reading this book you no longer know these ideas to be true but you feel them in your gut and become liberated from false ideas and ideologies created by corporations. i highly recommend this. as an activist with interests ranging from human rights, to animal rights, i have walked away from this book with many new perspectives. lasn articulately identifies the reason for the lack of success in progressive politics. the reason being that citizens in america are no longer allowed the freedom of expression on our airwaves or in our papers, and the only voice heard is the voice of corporate america. the book concludes with a pimer for the new revolution and shows how each an every one of us can bring democracy back to america.

Culture Jammers of the World, Unite!

A brilliant diagnosis of what's wrong with the consumer-capitalist lifestyle, and what we can do to opt out of the madness -- one jammer at a time. With the same energy and passion that can be found in the pages of Adbusters, this book is a call to action for anyone who's ever felt beaten down by "The Man". Lasn conveys his unique vision of turning the system against itself in a way that can inspire even the most jaded and cynical consumers to rediscover their idealism and become activist-citizens once again. Viva la revolucion!

Revolutionaries Unite!

This book is a call to arms for all the people who feel that the overconsumptive ways of our consumer culture have become overbearing. Kalle Lasn has a lot of good ideas and a couple of cool ways to resist authority and corporate domination in our everyday lives. I think anyone today can relate to his arguements on some level. It is time we reclaim democracy and think about the long term affects that our actions will have in the future. My critisisms of the book are that sometimes he takes a simplistic view in terms of the good guys/bad guys ideology. He calls for revolution but he doesn't give viable alternatives to the capatialist society that we live in now. A must-read for anybody who is fed up and desires change!