{"product_id":"empire-of-illusion-the-end-of-literacy-and-the-triumph-of-spectacle-9781568586137","title":"Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): Chris Hedges\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: Nation Books\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: Nation Books\u003cbr\u003e • BISAC: Media Studies\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A trenchantly argued critique of the near-destruction of the American Dream\" (\u003ci\u003ePhiladelphia Inquirer) \u003c\/i\u003eand the image-obsessed culture that has taken over society and culture\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e An instant bestseller, \u003ci\u003eEmpire of Illusion\u003c\/i\u003e is a striking and unsettling exploration of illusion and fantasy in contemporary American culture. Traveling to the ringside of professional wrestling bouts at Madison Square Garden, to Las Vegas to write about the pornographic film industry, and to academic conferences held by positive psychologists who claim to be able to engineer happiness, Hedges chronicles our flight from an ever-worsening reality. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The cultural embrace of illusion and celebrity culture have accompanied a growing system of casino capitalism, which creates vast wealth for elites. Corporations have ruthlessly dismantled and destroyed our manufacturing base and impoverished our working class. Hedges exposes the mechanisms that undermine our democracy and divert us from the economic, environmental, political, and moral collapse around us. A culture that cannot distinguish between reality and illusion dies, Hedges argues, and we are dying now. \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Nation Books","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":45035105255575,"sku":"9781568586137","price":1236.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9781568586137.webp?v=1769211434","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/empire-of-illusion-the-end-of-literacy-and-the-triumph-of-spectacle-9781568586137","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}