Watching TV Is Not Required: Thinking About Media and Thinking About Thinking - Sociology Re-Wired (Paperback)

"McGrane and Gunderson have put together an extraordinarily provocative stream of sociologically inspired responses to television. Nothing could be more "relevant" to students, and in the right hands, this is a resource for a learning experience that at once maximizes critical and creative thinking. McGrane and Gunderson give new life to sociological thinking."

-Jack Katz, Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles

"A proper companion for a course in intellectual self-defense, this book guides the reader through an intense contemplation of our culture's most popular form of meditation: watching TV. McLuhan, Huxley, and Postman inform this firmly grounded exploration of the everyday manipulations which we happily invite into our lives. Why is the television so powerful? Because we think it's not."

-Terri L. Anderson, Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles

"Here's a delightful kiss to break the enchantment that TV has held over our lives for too long-or maybe a bracing slap. In any event, what an important and powerful book."

-Bill McKibbin, author, Deep Economy

"McGrane and Gunderson have put together an extraordinarily provocative stream of sociologically inspired responses to television. Nothing could be more "relevant" to students, and in the right hands, this is a resource for a learning experience that at once maximizes critical and creative thinking. McGrane and Gunderson give new life to sociological thinking."-Jack Katz, Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles