UNITED STATES AUTHOR · FICTION · GENERAL
Douglas Rushkoff
Douglas Mark Rushkoff (born February 18, 1961) is an American media theorist, writer, professor, columnist, lecturer, graphic novelist, documentarian and podcaster. He is best known for his association with the early cyberpunk culture, his advocacy of open source solutions to social problems, his critique of technocapitalism, and his call to retrieve our humanity in a digital age. Rushkoff is most frequently regarded as a media theorist and is known for coining terms and concepts including viral media (or media virus), digital native, and social currency. He has written fourteen books on media, technology and culture, as well as several novels and graphic novels. He wrote the first syndicated column on cyberculture for The New York Times Syndicate, as well as regular columns for The Guardian of London, Arthur, Discover, and the online magazines Daily Beast, and TheFeature.
I see a cloud, a little bigger now than a man's hand, gathering in the north, and in the west, and all around, and soon the whole northern heavens will be lighted up with a fire that you cannot quench."
— from Testament, 2008
Most acclaimed
Testament
2008
"Das 'Testament: Heft II' gehört zu den wenigen handschriftlichen Aufzeichnungen Magnus Hirschfelds, welche die Plünderung seines Instituts für Sexualwissenschaft, die Zerstörung seines Lebenswerks und sein Exil überdauert haben. Es wurde buchstäblich vom Müllhaufen der Geschichte gerettet und befindet sich heute im Archiv der Magnus-Hirschfeld-Gesellschaft in Berlin. Es handelt sich nicht um ein Testament im wörtlichen Sinne, sondern um eine Mischung von Chronik, Richtlinien u. Testament . Die Aufzeichnungen reichen von 1928 bis 1935. Sie geben Auskunft über die letzten sieben Lebensjahre Hirschfelds: die Bemühungen, sein Lebenswerk für die Zukunft zu sichern (1928-1930), die Weltreise (1930-1932) mit den Notizen von der Reise durch die USA, die nicht in der Weltreise eines Sexualforschers enthalten sind, und die Zeit des Exils in Österreich, der Schweiz und Frankreich bis zu Hirschfelds Tod (1932-1935)"--provided by publisher.
Aleister & Adolf
"Legendary occultist Aleister Crowley develops a powerful and dangerous new weapon to defend the world against Adolf Hitler's own war machine"--Provided by publisher.
Present shock
"An award-winning author explores how the world works in our age of "continuous now". Back in the 1970s, futurism was all the rage. But looking forward is becoming a thing of the past. According to Douglas Rushkoff, "presentism" is the new ethos of a society that's always on, in real time, updating live. Guided by neither history nor long term goals, we navigate a sea of media that blend the past and future into a mash-up of instantaneous experience. Rushkoff shows how this trend is both disorienting and exhilarating. Without linear narrative we get both the humiliations of reality TV and the associative brilliance of The Simpsons. With no time for long term investing, we invent dangerously compressed derivatives yet also revive sustainable local businesses. In politics, presentism drives both the Tea Party and the Occupy movement. In many ways, this was the goal of digital technology--outsourcing our memory was supposed to free us up to focus on the present. But we are in danger of squandering this cognitive surplus on trivia. Rushkoff shows how we can instead ground ourselves in the reality of the present tense. "-- "In the 1970s futurism was in. But looking forward has become a thing of the past. According to Rushkoff, "presentism" is the new ethos of a society that's always on, in real time, updating live. Rushkoff shows how this trend is both exhilarating and disorienting. This was the goal of technology--outsourcing our memory was supposed to free us up to focus on the present. But we are in danger of squandering this cognitive surplus on trivia. Rushkoff shows how we can instead ground ourselves in the reality of the present tense"--