Lies We Live By : Defeating Doubletalk and Deception in Advertising, Politics, and the Media | 
| Author: Carl Hausman
Publisher: Routledge
Category: Book
List Price: $28.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 979615
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.4 x 1
ISBN: 0415922801
Dewey Decimal Number: 177.3
EAN: 9780415922807
ASIN: 0415922801
Publication Date: November 1999
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
It's a sad truth that lies are becoming a part of everyday life. From "pre-approved" credit card mailings to college admission claims to presidential press conferences, the American public is being "spun," deceived and misinformed at a dizzying rate and on a daily basis. Why is this? And what can we do about it?br In this lively but serious examination of the way lies are infiltrating world, media expert Carl Hausman takes a hard look at the business of deception, an industry that is growing at an alarming rate. Uncovering the roots of misinformation in American business and politics, he reveals the way words, numbers, and images are intentionally distorted for public consumption by some of this country's major industries-including tobacco companies, airlines, financial institutions, public relations firms, and even medical practices and universities-and offers outrageous examples of some of the more egregious assaults on the public trust. Showing readers how to spot potentially false claims, he offers advice about what we can do to stop them, with an annotated list of publications, individuals, and organizations dedicated to preventing the spread of misleading information. Whether it is paragraph-length footnotes, microscopic print or tortured statistics, the amount of propaganda being passed off as fact is both alarming and dangerous. iLies We Live By/i shows what to look for behind the double talk; but most importantly it offers ways to fight back.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Brief and light August 7, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a very "lite" read. There are some solid points, some interesting nuggets of information, and some patently obvious observations. Summary - read the fine print. I had hoped for something eye opening, but there was nothing there. Certainly inoffensive, but nothing new. Responding to the 14 year old revewer below, I agree, all 14 year olds should read this book.
 Got it from the library, had to buy it! October 2, 2004
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book is really awesome. I'm 14, and the title scared me at first... but then I opened it up and it's filled with pictures and illustrations of some pretty interesting (and sometimes funny) facts. It's true that we live by lives, Carl Hausman can prove it.br /br /If you like this, you might also like George Orwell's 1984, and Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky.
 Shockingly Obvious April 19, 2002
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a pretty useful book that gives you pointers on decoding the lies, mindgames, and doublespeak from all kinds of areas. This includes advertising, politics, media, and even car sales. That is, areas known to be populated by charlatans, influence peddlers, and con artists. Hausman's observations on these trends and especially his specific examples of chicanery in each of those areas are quite eye-opening and entertaining. But it's not exactly shocking that car salesmen and advertisers are trying to rip you off, or that politicians bend the truth in their campaign advertising. Most of us already have that figured out, and there's not much need for Hausman to introduce these problems as if we just crawled out from under a rock and should be totally shocked. Also, his occasional lapses into brutal sarcasm can be funny but tend to make him guilty of some of the behavior he's criticizing. Alas, it's hard to write a book like this, which is a media-driven exercise, and keep yourself totally detached from the bad side of media behavior that you're describing. Hausman does know this however, and instead of simply complaining then leaving you up in the air like other writers on this subject, he actually comes up with some useful solutions to the problem. The only true weakness of this book though, is that Hausman sees lies and doublespeak EVERYWHERE. If that's the case, then there's not really much reason for hope, is there? There's no need to be as pessimistic as him. Also beware of this book's low production values (at least in paperback), with illustrations that look like they came from fifth-generation copies off an extremely ancient copy machine.
WAKE UP AMERICA! January 25, 2001
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Tired of double talk? Innuendo? Half-baked journalism and devious flim-flam speakers? Read Carl Hausman's brillant book. He highlights the extent to which misformation has permeated business, politics, medical practices, universities, presidential press conferences, and even those pre-approved credit card applications you received unsolicited in the mail, just to mention a few. He outlines what you can do to stop this onslaught of mis-information, and includes a list of publications and organizations already in place for that purpose. He presents his material in a comic way, so there are lots of laughs about this tragic trend. After reading the book, I would like to see Mr Hausman team up with Bill O'Reilly in the Factors no-spin zone. Now these two could really keep us alert. WAKE UP AMERICA!
Read it or weep! December 15, 2000
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
A great expose of how decpetion works. I don't know whether to laugh or cry, though. The writing is funny but when you see the way that deception has become such a common part of politics it's truly depressing.
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