Everything in our background has prepared us to know and resist a prison when the gates begin to close around us... But what if there are no cries of anguish to be heard? Who is prepared to take arms against a sea of amusements? To whom do we complain, and when, and in what tone of voice, when serious discourse dissolves into giggles? What is the antidote to a culture's being drained by laughter?

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (ed. Penguin, 2005) - ISBN: 9781101042625