I like Douglas Rushkoff. I was first introduced to his work through his Merchants of Cool documentary in a college classroom, picked up Life, Inc. and Program or Be Programmed, enjoyed listening to his WFMU show Media Squat, etc. I was excited to read Present Shock, expecting my own theories on the pace at which life is presented as moving these days, via media, to be reinforced. They were, and Rushkoff's insights went beyond my own armchair philosophizing to bring things to poignant conclusions in a few chapters.

That said, this may have been my least favorite of Rushkoff's writings. With so much ground to cover, Rushkoff is forced to relegate supporting evidence culled from his research to footnotes, and to retrace his steps, bringing arguments around to points he's made in earlier books. Ironically, this book about presentism, written over a number of years, feels almost rushed at points, and digresses into pages-long explanations of tangentially-related critical theory at others.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, and I plan on keeping tabs on Rushkoff's work in the future. But I will keep an eye out for other books on the subject of modern media's effect on culture since 2000 that may narrow their focus or expand their page count to include more information on relevant scholarly research.

For those who are interested in Rushkoff's writing and are looking for a place to start, I highly recommend Life, Inc.