Description:
Television and TV viewing are not what they once were--and that's a good thing, according to award-winning author and critic Clive James. Since serving as television columnist for the London Observer from 1972 to 1982, James has witnessed a radical change in content, format, and programming and in the very manner in which television is watched. Here he examines this unique cultural revolution, providing a brilliant, eminently entertaining analysis of many of the medium's most notable twenty-first-century accomplishments and their not-always-subtle impact on modern society--including such acclaimed serial dramas as Breaking Bad, The West Wing, Mad Men, and The Sopranos, as well as the comedy 30 Rock.
With intelligence and wit, James explores a television landscape expanded by cable and broadband and profoundly altered by the advent of Netflix, Amazon, and other "cord-cutting" platforms that have helped to usher in a golden age of unabashed binge-watching.
Brief description:
Clive James (1939-2019) was an Australian memoirist, poet, translator, critic, and broadcaster who wrote more than thirty books of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
Review Quotes:
"Large-brained and largehearted, and written with astonishing energy...Obviously and plangently full of love: love of life, love of story, love of art, love of daughters."
-- "New York Times Book Review"