- Hardcover: 224 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (9 April 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747536899
- ISBN-13: 978-0747536895
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 11.8 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 525,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Get A Life is the manifesto of the Anti-TV organisation White Dot. The Guardian newspaper described the book as "the finest rant available between hardcovers." It is a wonderful, funny and acerbic attack on what has become a ubiquitous "activity"--on average most adults spend four hours of every day staring at a piece of furniture! The people on TV are not our friends! "Television doesn't give you experiences--it takes them away from you!" With our lives dominated ever more by outside influences beyond our control, White Dot thinks it absurd and ultimately dangerous for human beings as human beings to spend most of our "leisure" time staring at a screen and not communicating with each other.
There is a wonderful utopian edge to White Dot's opprobrium as they debunk the notion that TV is educational, relaxing, gives parents some peace, that giving it up is extreme and that life without it is boring. TV is not just another medium: "Previous forms of media led to the advancement of culture, intelligence and civilisation. Many people would say that television has done the opposite." We have done just fine for thousands of years without TV and this book reminds us that it is pretty daft wasting the one life we do get having surrogate interactions with a screen. Stop watching start living! --Mark Thwaite
Product Description
The authors of this book argue that television has always exemplified what is cheap and dehumanizing about modern life. Founders of the White Dot organization in the UK and USA, they claim that people spend too much time staring at the TV which is simply just another piece of furniture. This book is designed as a self-help guide to switching off the television and "getting a life".
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quite a funny book!,
By cflood@iel.ie (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Get a Life!: The Little Red Book of the White Dot (Hardcover)
I was expecting an interesting, informative book - which I got - but was pleasantly surprised to find it's actually really funny in parts too.Having reduced my TV watching to almost nothing, a friend mentioned the White Dot organisation. I visited the web site and bought this after I saw it advertised. It was a relief to read about people in the same situation as myself ('you don't watch TV?? What do you do all day???' etc) as well as being genuinely spooked about some of the consequences that too much TV watching has resulted in, as well as could result in. OK, so it's a little bit far-fetched in parts (I don't really see us all uploading ourselves, 'Matrix' style into a computer) but most of the scenarios it presents are, I think, possible. It's a little bit dated, and could do with a re-write, but overall I'd have to say this is one of the better books I've read. Some reviewers have said this book is too long - no way! More please! Think for yourself? Then BUY THIS BOOK!!!
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Funny, witty - and they've got a point!,
By
This review is from: Get a Life!: The Little Red Book of the White Dot (Hardcover)
The book is full of little sentences like: - on your deathbed, what if someone told you you could have 10 years more of your life? Too late, you've spent them staring at a piece of furniture! - people on those shows don't care about you, would ignore you if they met you, despise you - they just need you to make sure their show goes on, and they become rich - you're a fan of that TV personality - then one day you discover they have stolen years of your life from you - you have this friend who can do all these things: play an instrument, dance, whatever. You ask, "where do you find the time?" He says, "by not spending 3-4 hours a DAY - US average - staring at a piece of furniture" This book feels SO right - unless you are in the TV industry.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I had to stare at a piece of furniture to write this...,
By A Customer
This review is from: Get a Life!: The Little Red Book of the White Dot (Hardcover)
does that make it bad? Of course not. This book is terrifying and brilliant, but just rants too much to really get through. You can't help thinking that everyone who watches any television isn't a dehumanised, self-deceiving fool. Yet that is what the book seems to claim. Isn't there a less screechy way to point out the shortcomings of the medium?
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