In this marvelously original book, three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Leslie Savan offers fascinating insights into why we're all talking the talk—Duh; Bring it on!; Bling; Whatever!—and what this reveals about America today. Savan traces the paths that phrases like these travel from obscure slang to pop stardom, selling everything from cars (ads for VWs, Mitsubishis, and Mercurys all pitch them as "no-brainer”s) to wars (finding WMD in Iraq was to be a "slam dunk”). Real people create these catchy phrases, but once media, politics, and businesses broadcast them, they burst out of our mouths as celebrity words, newly glamorous and powerful. Witty, fun, and full of thought-provoking stories about the origins of popular expressions, Slam Dunks and No-Brainers is for everyone who loves the mysteries of language.
Sprache
Verlagsort
Verlagsgruppe
Produkt-Hinweis
Maße
Höhe: 203 mm
Breite: 132 mm
Dicke: 19 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-375-70242-6 (9780375702426)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Leslie Savan wrote a column about advertising and commercial culture for The Village Voice for thirteen years. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism in 1991, 1992, and 1997. In 1996 she was named one of "The Top Ten Media Heroes" by the Institute for Alternative Journalism. She has been a commentator for Fresh Air and has appeared on the ABC and CBS national newscasts, NPR, and The O'Reilly Factor. She has written for The New York Times, Time, The New Yorker, The Los Angeles Times, Mademoiselle, and Salon, among other publications. Her essays have been reprinted in numerous textbooks and anthologies. Her previous book, The Sponsored Life: Ads, TV, and American Culture, is a collection of her columns.
PROLOGUE
Are We Having Fun Yet?
CHAPTER 1
Here’s the Deal
CHAPTER 2
Pop Talk Is History
CHAPTER 3
What’s Black, Then White, and Said All Over?
CHAPTER 4
Don’t Even Think About Telling Me “I Don’t Think So”: The Media, Meanness, and Me
CHAPTER 5
The Great American Yesss!
CHAPTER 6
Populist Pop and the Regular Guy
CHAPTER 7
The Community of Commitment-Centered Words
CHAPTER 8
Digital Talk in the Unit States of America
EPILOGUE
It’s Like, You Know, the End
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index
Permissions Acknowledgments
