Jean Baudrillard

Brief, apt, encompassing, crucial for a postmodernism fan!

This volume is a very good introduction to Baudrillard for those unacquainted with his writings, and a useful companion volume to a thorough study of his texts. Unlike the "[Philosopher] in 90 minutes" series, the "Introducing" series, etc., this book is intended as a supplement to the primary texts, not as a simplified condensation of the original texts for the casual inquirer who wishes to appear well-read.Cultural influences on Baudrillard are discussed at length (the Monnet projects in post-WWII France; the student revolt in Paris in May '68); etc. Also, many of the key concepts that Baudrillard appropriated from other thinkers are situated in context by reference to their origins with Foucault (the panopticon as a model for contemporary culture), Bataille (excess, expenditure - the escape from Hegel), Mauss ("potlatch"), Debord (spectacle), and others.Some of the scandals associated with Baudrillard's writings - the fights with various feminists over his notorious remarks about women, his misconstrued analysis of the United States in "America," and of course the bru-ha-ha over his wildly misunderstood claim that "the Gulf War did not happen" - are rather neatly side-stepped in this volume with a paradigm in which Baudrillard's later writing (after "Symbolic Exchange and Death") is understood as performative, with an emphasis on hyperbole, exaggeration, fictionalization and, above all, humor.A few disadvantages of this volume are largely caused by the date of its publication: completed in 1999, it does not address Baudrillard's final works, particularly his analyses of 9-11; nor does it include any commentary on the most important pop-cultural manifestation of Baudrillard's work, namely the Matrix trilogy.I would suggest this book before, after, or along with Mark Poster's excellent selection of Baudrillard's texts in  Jean Baudrillard: Selected Writings: Second Edition  and, of course, the now-classic text  Simulacra and Simulation (The Body, In Theory: Histories of Cultural Materialism) . Jean Baudrillard: Selected Writings: Second EditionSimulacra and Simulation (The Body, In Theory: Histories of Cultural Materialism)

I am not an specialist, but I think that Lane`s critical review of Baudrillard is a must in terms of what is a good critical review. It is clear, makes additions to readers understandings of Baudrillard, it is almost as good as the original,specially to the begginers.

A philosophical french master. A refined act of thinking, art and dedication .. Perhaps a little too British, perhaps not so clever commentaries.

Idk, I liked reading about Baudrillard in Douglas Kellner's "Postmodern Theory" but i actually stopped reading this book by Lane. (it has been about two years ago and i am just writing this review now, but i remember this book as being terrible.... he was going on and on about potlatch). Nevertheless i only read about a third of this book so i can't totally give a fair review. I have recently bought some other books on Baudrillard and hope to reengage with him.

Used for research.