Simulations (Foreign Agents Series)

I'm still struggling with postmodernism. Part of me wanders raptly and avidly in each period of human thought I can get a view of. The classical world, late antiquity, modernity. This is like a troubling viral idea I can't "un-see," a sort of worm that climbs in the ear and whispers subversively about the certitudes of all that other stuff. As such it is irresistible. This is true although this work is still redolent of a lot of the resentful juvenile "radical" overgeneralizing cr*p so prevalent in the 60s. Yet, it is an irritant of a good kind. Like a little poison might shock the system and do one good.

The book has sat in my brain for about two months. Each passing month it's application to the world and the objects within it have deepened ever further. I'll find myself reading an argument, in a book or twitter, and come to find that the central thesis of Simulations is not only accurate... But holding back a discourse based in actual facts and not an interpretation of systems of logic or systems of political hegemony.

Buyers should beware that this thin pamphlet is taken from two of Baudrillard’s previous books.This book consists of two chapters. The first chapter is “The Procession of Simulation.” This is actually the first chapter of his book, Simulacra and Simulation. The second chapter is The Orders of Simulacra. This is from Symbolic Exchange and Death. Both are essential texts from Baudrillard’s work, and both are perhaps the most important chapters in those books. If you have those books already, on the other hand, there is no reason for you to buy this one. Yet, notwithstanding all this, these two chapters constitute the core of Baudrillard’s teaching.... Odd when you think of it. This present book is a good demonstration of sorts of the different layers of simulation Baudrillard discusses. ...

Book arrived as very specifically described. Thank you for your care!

The analyses of Disneyland and reproducibility as the industrial MO are worth it

Baudrillard's ideas are great. However, the text by provided by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (an Amazon company) is the worst bit of sloppy publishing I have ever seen. Seriously. I imagine any editor there with a English degree and a soul throwing themselves out of top floor windows. Why?The book Text is filled with disj ointe d words and Inc luds odd s pell ngss, interchange of lett4rs and num6ers. Disjointed use of das -hes. Hard to read d. Not sure if this is a con ceit in a nod to Baudrillard's notion of "liquification of referents" or horrible publishing. Pick a page, any page and you'll experience multiple type faces, misspelled words, and odd spaces. Here are a few real examples from the book: page 15- "...sterilsed, protected lo denth,", page 21- "...exhu ming it as If if were our owll pasl." (Huh?),Not re comme nded.

For many, this is clearly a seminal text. Yet, I really wonder what most readers think when plowing through this slim yet dense tome. As other readers have already pointed out, this edition is in desperate need of a re-edit. In fact, it would only do the author justice if the entire text were retranslated. Aside from punctuation errors, there are quite a few misspellings and typos (curcumscribed, ilusory, Phillipino, leucemiaziation, no real [instead of not real]), bizarre constructions ("once shortcircuited the myths"; "the means to so are available"; "otherwise you could never send people out to get smashed up in this kind of trouble"), as well as numerous examples of questionable usage (actuality, in function of). Furthermore, since the translators were American and British, we get both UK and US spelling and punctuation, without any apparent rhyme or reason. What is most unfortunate, however, is that the translators did not bother to research quotes, and thus Sebeok, for example, gets back-translated from French, even though he originally wrote in English. This has to rate as one of the greatest crimes of translation. I find it hard to believe that it ever gets assigned as reading material in universities without anyone noticing what a tremendous wreck it is.

One of the smartest/most entertaining books I've ever read.