Within the Context of No Context

"In his witty and laconic introduction to a new edition of his 1980 essay, 'Within the Context of No Context', he writes, 'I have made sense of my life by developing an ability to analyze Mainstream American Cultural Artifacts.' This is no small ability. What is also rewarding to the reader is that Mr. Trow's essay breathes more life into many of these artifacts than the artifacts themselves ever had. And I would agree with his retrospective conclusion about 'the central formulation' of the essay: 'that it was the role of television to establish the context of no-context, and then chronicle it.' What is both impressive and eerie about reading the essay now is not only how well the quality of George Trow's writing holds up but also his virtually prophetic indictment of American culture--its ignorance of history, its lack of content."Trow, George W. S. is the author of 'Within the Context of No Context', published 1997 under ISBN 9780871136749 and ISBN 0871136740.