Publisher's Weekly Review
Digital technology is destroying social bonds with wide-ranging and dire consequences, according to this scattershot jeremiad. Rushkoff (Program or Be Programmed), a professor of media theory and host of NPR's Team Human podcast, argues that the internet and social media are enacting a "social annihilation" that leaves individuals isolated, alienated, addicted to screens, vulnerable to consumerist propaganda, and imbued with a computer-flavored worldview that makes them "experience people as dehumanized replications of memes" and "treat one another as machines." These notions, along with anticapitalist posturing, frame a disjointed rehash of leftish sociocultural concerns, from the looming robot takeover to the inauthenticity of digital sound compared to vinyl. Rushkoff's theorizing is more free-associative metaphor than serious analysis-he contends that "politicians of the digital media environment pull out of global trade blocs and demand the construction of walls" because of the one-versus-zero character of binary computer code-and yields claims about the real world that are often ill-informed or just plain absurd ("We will need a major, civilization-changing innovation to occur on a monthly or even weekly basis in order to support the rate of growth demanded by the underlying [capitalist economy's] operating system"). People seeking a more connected, sustainable future should look for a better game plan than Rushkoff's screed. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Rushkoff (Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus, 2016) pieces together a narrative, delivered through 100 statements, that demonstrates how the things that are supposed to bring us together pull us apart. For example, money has become a means for exploitation rather than for exchange. Rushkoff also spurs readers to think about how the world is being adapted to accommodate technology such as self-driving cars, items that will possibly be affordable to few and will change our physical space. And though artificial intelligence works out computational challenges, it will never reflect human feelings or adhere to a set of values. His statements touch on a wide range of subjects, from education and politics to the home and the workplace. Throughout, he implores us to connect and provides evidence that shows that humans can achieve more if we work together. Team Human is designed to be picked up and digested a few ideas at a time, much like Rushkoff's NPR podcast of the same name. This book will be a catalyst for conversations on what it means to be human.--Jennifer Adams Copyright 2018 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
THE ANNOTATED MEMOIRS OF ULYSSES S. GRANT Edited by Elizabeth S. Samet. (Liveright, $45.) If you liked Ron Chernow's recent biography of the 18th president, this annotated version of Grant's memoirs provides the context necessary to appreciate one of the most celebrated pieces of presidential writing, team human By Douglas Rushkoff. (Norton, $23.95.) A professor of media theory, Rushkoff files field notes from the war between man and machine, arguing gloomily that technology is currently winning, quickly chipping away at our humanity, bookends By Michael Chabon. (Harper Perennial, paper, $16.99.) Chabon offers a glimpse at his influences in this compilation of previously published odds and ends. Much of the book is made up of introductions to eclectic cult classics, the kindness of strangers By Salka Viertel. (New York Review Books, paper, $17.95.) Born in a remote province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Viertel made her way in the 1920 s to Hollywood, where she had a career as a screenwriter and became a confidante of Greta Garbo. Her memoir captures both the intellectual world she had to leave behind - one peopled by the likes of Kafka, Musil and Einstein - and the home and refuge she made for herself in Los Angeles. DIDEROT AND THE ART OF THINKING FREELY By Andrew S. Curran. (Other Press, $26.95.) In this new biography, Curran looks to remind us just what a radical Diderot was in his time. "I read a lot of contemporary fiction, but the books I keep coming back to in recent months are American noir novels from the '40 s and '50s. I've recently read more Raymond Chandler than I have at any time and can't quite figure out why except that the dark underworld he brings to life, a boozy and beautiful Los Angeles, is one I can get completely lost in. The latest novel of his I can recommend is the lady in the lake, about two missing wives, one rich and one poor, and the men who want them back, and not always for the right reasons. People often forget how extremely funny Chandler is, particularly when it comes to painting a room: 'The whole place was full to overflowing with males in leisure jackets and liquor breaths and females in high-pitched laughs, oxblood fingernails and dirty knuckles.' And I especially enjoy how he describes female characters: She was 'smart, smooth and no good. She had a way with men. She could make them crawl over her shoes.' He also evokes California landscapes better than just about any writer, making it easy to smell the jasmine and feel the heat from the Santa Anas, air, he writes, 'hot enough to blister my tongue.' " - JULIE BLOOM, DEPUTY EDITOR, NATIONAL DESK, ON WHAT SHE'S READING.
