Reality Isn't What It Used to Be: Theatrical Politics, Ready-to-Wear Religion, Global Myths, Primitive Chic, and Other Wonders of the Postmodern World

Reality Isn't What It Used to Be: Theatrical Politics, Ready-to-Wear Religion, Global Myths, Primitive Chic, and Other Wonders of the Postmodern World

By: Walter Truett Anderson  

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Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5

Publisher: HarperOne

Release Date: 1992-02-14

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Great PostModernism Explanation - I highly recommend this book for anyone desiring to know what postmodernism really is (especially those looking for an introduction to the topic). Essentially, Postmodern philosophy has challenged each and every one of the truth claims humans make through thought. There are a lot of books on Postmodernism and many of them are unclear, difficult to read. This book is easy to read and very helpful.

PostModernism is a precious gem in philosophy, one that won't be ignored, canNOT be ignored, by the various religions and spiritual teachings and the scientific community and everyone else (every culture, country, group, person).

Our language has been deconstructed. We now see the limitations of that language (i.e. the fact that it exists in a field of binary opposites). We see that the "truth" that shows up in our awareness is influenced by history, language, culture, etc. "Truth" is a hand-me-down. We live in a different world today, one in which we see that our thoughts about reality help co-create it.

Great, clear book. It's a nice doorway into a deeper seeing also, such as nondual realization (i.e., enlightenment) and it is a perfect primer for Integral Theory.

Scott Kiloby
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Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Excellent Exposition, with a Caveat - As the appendages to the book's title (Theatrical Politics, Ready-to-Wear Religion, Global Myths, Primitive Chic, etc.) suggest, the postmodernist conception of socially constructed reality (SCR) has taken quite a hold on popular thinking. Author Anderson seems largely to be sympathetic to this outlook, but with wry wit he also suggests a grain of salt.

Many areas of human inquiry (or mere imagination) do indeed consist of mental circle-jerk gymnastics. Religion, pseudoscience, and crackpot notions of economics such as Marxism come readily to mind. But the presence of such politically correct fantasies (built only on wishes and the gullibility of receptive speech communities) does not detract from valid natural science, history, or social science--which are not based on mere popular verbalisms, but rather on replicated and tested observations.

That last sentence, I must admit, was a bit complicated, but I think it conveys the (or a) correct state of affairs. Some notions of reality consist only of socially approved fantasies; but other bona fide scientific or historical accounts actually do check out.

The take-home lesson from this is that everyone needs to examine whether any assertion consists merely of a bunch of people saying the same thing, or whether there is any evidence to back it up.

Despite all its merits, I don't think this book makes the matter clear. Nonetheless, it is a great overview, and an enjoyable read.

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Customer Review: 4 out of 5
Still Relevant 20 Years Later - My copy of this book says it was published in 1990, which means it was written in the late 1980s. I expected it to be as badly dated as the cover art, but was pleasantly surprised. It could have been written last year because the world is still struggling with the same issues: globalization, loss of faith, loss of meaning, loss of ideological certainty, death of traditions, etc. The same changes that were coming in 1990 are still coming, the hopeful predictions are still unfulfilled, the "emergent fiction" has yet to be realized. In a few sections the author starts prescribing courses of cultural development and making predictions. Some of these ideas are outdated now, and most of them seemed out of place with the rest of the text, but a section near the end of chapter 7 "Democracy's Dilemma" impressed me with its prescience. The author explains why America is no longer capable of waging war, and reading this passage from a post-9/11 and Iraq War perspective gave me chills.

This book explains postmodernism in a clear, easy-to-understand way. The writing style is light, conversational; even though it deals with topics as dry as sociology, politics, and economics, it manages to be interesting and it moves quickly.

I don't agree with the author's seeming insistence that there is no "real" truth ... I believe that cultural interpretations are based on facts which do not change; their meaning is assigned rather than inherent. But that may simply be the belief I have chosen for myself since a world without meaning is very bleak and scary!

All in all this is a good, thought-provoking book which I can recommend to anybody who is living in these postmodern times and wants to understand a bit more about what's going on.

Customer Review: 4 out of 5
Reality Isn't What It Used To Be isn't what it used to be - An excellent exploration of the meaning, possibilities, and problems of postmodernism, free from jargon and caricature. My only complaint: Isn't it time for a new edition? The book was published in 1995, meaning it was probably actually written in the early 90s or even late 80s. Most of its examples from "current events" and pop culture are of 1980s vintage or even earlier. Many of these examples would themselves require explanation for people younger than, say, dirt.

I assume that the author was pretty old even then, so he might be dead or retired now. But the topic is still relevant, and this is an excellent introduction to it. We need an update. For example, what has been the impact of 9/11 and related events on postmodern culture and thought? Or the coming ecological meltdown that was mere conjecture in 1995, but is an imminent certainty now?

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Postmodernism Demystified - Begin the Construct Caper - Of all the writings on the subject of postmodern thought I found this text to be of invaluable worth. It conveys the ideas of post modernism in lucid everyday english rather then having its messeges veiled in the recondite jargon of academia. It is a distillation of the rudimentary ideas that run through all strands of post modern thought. As a neophyte to the subject, I found this book far more useful then any other cultural theorist's longwinded and wordy treatise. Other vital introductory texts on this subject are Anderson's "The Truth about the Truth" as well as "Teach Yourself Postmodernism" by Glenn Ward. With these books under your belt, Derrida, Foucalt et al won't seem nearly as daunting as before...and you will start to see how much they obfuscate their messeges in labyrinths of language.

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