sign in| help
Search advanced search
 
Books
Search:
x dismiss this message

Did you know you can edit this page?

The Culture of Fear
  • Rated 0 stars
Read The Culture of Fear

The Culture of Fear (1999) (edit title/settings)

Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things

by Barry Glassner (Author) (edit contributors)

Share this book on:
see page history

Description edit see section history

In late 2002, Barry Glassner appeared in Michael Moore's Academy Award-winning movie, Bowling for Columbine , to discuss The Culture of Fear . The reaction to Glassner's appearance, and the message of his book, were overwhelming. As Glassner describes, the American public remains... read more

Popular Covers

Loading covers…

Choose your book’s cover

Quotes edit see section history

  • “Yet if anonymous Halloween sadists were fictitious creatures, they were useful diversions from some truly frightening realities, such as the fact that far more children are seriously injured and killed by family members than by strangers.”
    Barry Glassner
  • “How can you be sure the person sitting next to you at work won't go over the edge and bring an Uzi to the office tomorrow? You can't.”
    a reporter for the St. Petersburg Times
  • “To stay in business newspapers must cater to the interests of their subscribers, few of whom live in inner-city minority neighborhoods. The same market forces result in paltry coverage of foreign news in most American newspapers, Shaw suggests.”
    Barry Glassner
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • the serious problems people ignore often give rise to the very dangers they fear the most.7
    Highlighted by 19 Kindle customers
  • Dangers get selected for special emphasis, Douglas showed, either because they offend the basic moral principles of the society or because they enable criticism of disliked groups and institutions.
    Highlighted by 19 Kindle customers
  • “There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it,” said the ultimate master of terror, Alfred Hitchcock.
    Highlighted by 18 Kindle customers
  • One of the paradoxes of a culture of fear is that serious problems remain widely ignored even though they give rise to precisely the dangers that the populace most abhors.
    Highlighted by 16 Kindle customers
  • Fear obscures reason, intensifies emotions and makes it easier for demagogic politicians to mobilize the public on behalf of the policies they want to pursue.”2
    Highlighted by 14 Kindle customers
  • In just about every contemporary American scare, rather than confront disturbing shortcomings in society the public discussion centers on disturbed individuals.
    Highlighted by 14 Kindle customers
  • follow—misdirection, presenting victims as experts, and treating isolated incidents as trends—have been applied with great success in the newer fear narrative.
    Highlighted by 12 Kindle customers
  • Pseudodangers represent further opportunities to avoid problems we do not want to confront, such as overcrowded roads and the superabundance of guns, as well as those we have grown tired of confronting.
    Highlighted by 11 Kindle customers
  • Atypical tragedies grab our attention while widespread problems go unaddressed.
    Highlighted by 11 Kindle customers
  • The short answer to why Americans harbor so many misbegotten fears is that immense power and money await those who tap into our moral insecurities and supply us with symbolic substitutes.
    Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers
Show all 13 quotes from this book

First Sentence edit see section history

Why are so many fears in the air, and so many of them unfounded?

Table of Contents edit see section history

1. Dubious Dangers On Roadways And Campuses: how fears are sold
2. Crime In the News: tall tales and overstated statistics
3. Youth At Risk: faulty diagnoses and callous cures
4. Monster Moms: on the art of misdirection
5. Black Men: how to perpetuate prejudice without really trying
6. Smack Is Back: when presidents and the press collude, the scares never stop
7. Metaphoric Illnesses: how not to criticize the establishment
8. Plane Wrecks: small danger, big scare
9. Final Thoughts: The Martians aren't coming

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Barry Glassner (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Basic Books
Country: Add the country of publication.
Publication Date: 1999
ISBN: 0465014895
Page Count: 304

Classification edit see section history

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

Fine for teens or adults.

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Danger Ahead: The Risks You Really Face on Life's Highway

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • Culture of Fear Revisited
  • The Science of Fear: Why We Fear the Things We Shouldn't--and Put Ourselves in Greater Danger
  • At Stake

We’re hiding the errata, movie connections, books that influenced this book, books influenced by this book, books that cite this book and books cited by this book sections. If you would like to add content to them, you must first make them visible.

© 2006-2012 Shelfari | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy

Close