The Information Bomb (Radical Thinkers) Paperback – January 17, 2006

Paul Virilio comments on everything from the normalization of porn to the Defense Department's turning the earth inside out. (That's how Afghanistan was better defended by US forces than the Capitol while Congress was in session on January 6) If the virtualized world seems more and more weird to you, that's only because it is. This evening I saw on the TV news that the group ABBA will resume touring--but putting electronic avatars on stage. Audiences will actually go to these shows.

A unique mix of Situationism, postmodernism, and Luddism! (With a dose of Foucault and a left-wing Catholic streak?!) Virilio's staccato, rapid-fire assault mostly dispenses with conventional argument or exposition, but that's what makes him so bracing. It's a hail of neologisms, newspaper headlines, and quotes from contemporary politicos and ancient philosophers. The main thesis seems to be we're flirting with disaster: under the pressures of the military-industrial complex, technoscience, telecommunications and surveillance technologies, etc., reality is steadily shrinking and accelerating, preparing us for some unknown "integral accident" waiting to happen: a global disaster, a Chernobyl or Hiroshima whose chain reaction will be at least "virtually" apocalyptic.

this edition is is printed by amazon fulfillment, meaning the cover is physically rubbery and visually slightly low resolution - not the most charming way to present the printed cardboard texture of the cover. the spine itself is, of course, also rubbery making it so that once opened the book doesn't want to close (alternatively considered an intentional design choice, as virilios writing induces a similar effect). it should also be noted that the page layout doesnt really fit the size of the actual page, and the outwards margins are exaggerated. it remains very readable, but feels dissapointingly wonky. "amazon fulfillment" is a project where amazon prints books on demand once purchased instead of keeping stock - as you read, there are downsides besides the ideological ones.the book feels like a decent bootleg rather than the real thing. normal editions of verso books are infamous for feeling dry (physically that is "ha-ha") to the point that pages fall out but if you get your fingers on one of these you will instantaniously come to miss the originals. let your mass produced books have origins and history! and buy them from your local bookshop, or why not from verso directly?YES, yes YES this time i have finally learned a lesson

Virilo writes with great power and moral purpose. This is a book from what looks like to me his transitional stage, that is, marking the earlier more tightly written works, out from the later more overtly emotional more obscure texts.

thanksxxx