In one of the most interestingly presented books I have seen, socio-cultural theorist, Marshall McLuhan, and graphics designer and artist, Quentin Fiore, present The Medium is the Massage, a book that, while written in the 1960s, has more direct application to our contemporary times than it did during its inception. Taking its cue from the saying, "the medium is the message" and altering it to fit their own message, McLuhan and Fiore present the argument of how the electronic media is slowly lulling us into not realizing the dramatic changes and new perspectives this technology is creating. Their 'writing style', if it can be called such, is a provocative, visually-impacting array of photographs, unique texts, quotes, humorous cartoons, and other images to give the reader a better understanding of the ideas being presented. While there is a slight danger of their message being lost in its unorthodox presentation, (two pages, for example, are printed with the text upside-down), their argument is solid and restated in unique ways throughout. The book is revolutionary in the way it shows how electric technology is continually changing our government, our families, our jobs, and our social relationships. While the evidence and the way it is presented does reveal its origination in the earlier part of this technological movement, the words nonetheless show its relevance to our time period. ( )

Utterly essential to understanding not only the television age, but also the age we inhabit now, of social networking via digital technology and all the other good stuff going on around us. The work is utterly contemporary, very fresh, speaks to the now. Particularly powerful insights on education (and for educators). Read it! ( )

The title plays off McLuhan's motto, which became a 1960s buzz phrase: "The medium is the message." This book uses graphic design, as much as text, to reinforce McLuhan's ideas.

http://www.marshallmcluhan.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mcluhan ( )

Back to the source of the quote. McLuhan revolutionized the ad and pop industry; too bad he was analysed to death ( )