In the age of 9/11, the Iraq War, financial collapse, and Amber Alerts, our society is defined by fear. So it's not surprising that three out of four Americans say they feel more fearful today then they did twenty years ago. But are we living in exceptionally dangerous times? In 'The Culture of Fear', sociologist Barry Glassner demonstrates that it is our 'perception' of danger that has increased, not the actual level of risk. Glassner exposes the people and organizations that manipulate our perceptions and profit from our fears, including advocacy groups that raise money by exaggerating the prevalence of particular diseases and politicians who win elections by heightening concerns about crime, drug use, and terrorism. In this new edition of a classic book—more relevant now than when it was first published—Glassner exposes the price we pay forsocial panic.
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Americans are afraid of many things that shouldn't frighten them, writes Barry Glassner in this book devoted to exploding conventional wisdom. Thanks to opportunistic politicians, single-minded advocacy groups, and unscrupulous TV "newsmagazines," people must unlearn their many misperceptions about the world around them. The youth homicide rate, for instance, has dropped by as much as 30 percent in recent years, says Glassner--and up to three times as many people are struck dead by lightening than die by violence in schools. "False and overdrawn fears only cause hardship," he writes. In fact, one study shows that daughters of women with breast cancer are actually less likely to conduct self-examinations--probably because the campaign to increase awareness of the ailment also inadvertently heightens fears.
Although some sections are stronger than others, The Culture of Fear's examination of many nonproblems--such as "road rage," "Internet addiction," and airline safety--is very good. Glassner also has a sharp eye for what causes unnecessary goose bumps: "The use of poignant anecdotes in place of scientific evidence, the christening of isolated incidents as trends, depictions of entire categories of people as innately dangerous," and unknown scholars who masquerade as "experts." Although Glassner rejects the notion that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, he certainly shows we have much less to fear than we think. And isn't that sort of scary? --John J. Miller --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
In this oddly comforting audiobook, Glassner (Derailing Democracy) deconstructs many commonly held beliefs about the threats of the modern world and aims to expose the media's role in keeping citizens fearful. Frightened citizens, he posits, make better consumers and more easily swayed voters. In a methodical fashion, he raises a series of public safety threats—the prevalence of road rage, middle-class heroin addiction and husband abuse, to name just a few—and then systematically tries to strike them down with statistics. More provocative are later chapters when he attempts to debunk such modern phenomena as Gulf War Syndrome and illnesses caused by breast implants. Glassner's delivery is serious but not emotionless; he keeps an even keel most of the time, but emotion does seep into his voice, most notably when talking about gun control. His reading style stands in sharp contrast to filmmaker Michael Moore, whose apparently improvised introduction is passionate and compelling; in fact, Glassner, who was featured in Moore's film Bowling for Columbine, sounds a bit dull coming right after Moore. But he is clearly a man on a mission, and even though many listeners might disregard some of his explanations as oversimplifications, virtually everyone will leave this book with a more realistic, guardedly optimistic world view.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
Format:Paperback
I first found out about Barry Glassner's book by watching Michael Moore's excellent documentary Bowling for Columbine. After reading the book I found that Moore's entire thesis on what is wrong with America's fear-driven consumer culture needs this book to back it up. The movie is wonderful and raises very important issues. You should definitely watch it if you have not. This book takes a long, hard look at those issues and the sociological causes and effects of fear in American society. Glassner carefully covers unreasonable fears by examining important data and statistics. This book is especially important in the post-9/11 era we are currently living in. This book should be read by those overwhelmed by the coverage of violent crime on the daily news and especially those living in fear of their neighbors. Culture of Fear is an important book for our times.
By sporkdude
Format:Paperback
To anyone who is disgusted with local news, can't watch CNN, and would rather read the Economist instead of US News, Time, and Newsweek, this might be the perfect book. The name is sort of a misnomer though. It should be called "Media of Fear". Nonetheless, it reinforces what I've felt all along, that the media and news are not out to report what's informative and worthy, but what is sexy - and that is fear. Even though this was written before 9/11, this is even more poignant now.
Glassner explains how the media ignores statistics and common sense in order to fill the airwaves and the printed word with scare tactics. He explains how the media, influenced by political groups and human interest stories, ignore the big picture and focus on anecdotal evidence in order to sell their fear. He provides many examples of this, from airplane crashes to vaccines, and explains how these unfounded fears come about. He carefully uses both concrete evidence and statistics to prove the media wrong, and explains why and how the media choose to report the way they do.
Unfortunately, for people like me who already agree with him, it doesn't provide much new information. Also, when he talks of the media, he talks of the supply side. He rarely mentions the demand side. Why is such media is actually being watched, and why are consumers falling for this, hook, line, and sinker?
Finally, the writing style is not altogether fluid. It's hard to describe, but it's not a real page turner.
All in all, it's a good book. It'll either confirm what you already know, or be an eye opener.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By S. Keough
Format:Paperback
I first became interested in this book through the movie "Bowling for Columbine" by Michael Moore. The movie expands on the concept of the book: America has become a culture that's afraid of its own shadow. We've created diseases, epidemics, criminals, and escalating crime rates in our imaginations that the media has gladly expounded upon in order to gain profits.
Barry Glassner does an excellent job of taking false statistics and exaggerated television reports and exposing them for what they really are: fraudulent mediums to increase profits and to increase control over American mindsets.
One thing that Michael Moore and Barry Glassner do not have in common is this: Barry Glassner doesn't seem to be making an attempt to blatantly manipulate his audience. Glassner did a thorough investigation and covered all areas of his subject, finding a plethora of information to support his thesis rather than a few mere tidbits. His research was well-founded and his argument is both convincing and trustworthy. I can't say the same for all of Michael Moore's work.
A must-read.
(Just a side note: For as much as I hate the media, I find it interesting that the only way I became aware of this book was actually through the media - i.e. Michael Moore's movie "Bowling for Columbine." Moore used the media in order to tell his audience that the media is the reason that they're so afraid of everything. Don't you just love irony?)
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3.7 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Be Careful, Junk Science
The author obviously has an agenda to protect Hollywood. Ill bet he lives in an upscale neighboorhood where all the police have to worry about are cats in trees. Read more
Published on July 19 2004
1.0 out of 5 stars
Down for a Far Left, Us Vs, Them Diatribe? Game On!!!
It's ironic. The crux of this book is supposed to be that the media is misleading the masses for their own sinister purposes. Read more
Published on Jun 28 2004 by Eddie Fender
4.0 out of 5 stars
well written but at times didactic
The Culture of Fear is a book the demonstrates the ignorance of the American public and the willingness of major media outlets to pray on such ignorance in order to make easy... Read more
Published on May 24 2004 by D. Friedman
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bravo!
The author goes deep in exposing the hysteria created by the media and the powers that be to distract Americans from the real issues in our country. Read more
Published on May 19 2004
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very beneficial and Crucial!
If there is any book out there on the effects of the mass media which holds water, it is this one. As an adamant critic of the mass media in the field of sociology, I have studied... Read more
Published on May 15 2004
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good critique of mainstream media
In The Culture of Fear, Glassner largely takes the media to task for reporting on the sensational and shocking, but irrelevant, rather than the real mundane issues. Read more
Published on Mar 28 2004 by Derrick Peterman
4.0 out of 5 stars
More questions than answers ...
First, it is important to note that Glassner is a sociologist, rather than a scientist or statistician. Read more
Published on Mar 22 2004 by Jon M Altbergs
1.0 out of 5 stars
Culture of Fear inspires laughter
Critical thinkers appreciate compilations that question popular assumptions and provide data to reveal common societal beliefs as surprising myths or at least exaggerations. Read more
Published on Mar 13 2004 by edincalifornia
2.0 out of 5 stars
Obvious agenda
In the first 56 pages, the author advocates the gun restriction, gun bans, and gun confiscation. Each issue all boils down to the same problem for this author, guns. Read more
Published on Feb 28 2004 by "dartanian"
4.0 out of 5 stars
Why news channels in the US are a joke
Whatever the author discusses has been the subject of numerous books and movies. So its not earth-shattering in that respect. Read more
Published on Jan 29 2004 by Rupesh Verma
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