Encyclopedia of Misinformation: A Compendium of Imitations, Spoofs, Delusions, Simulations, Counterfeits, Impostors, Illusions, Confabulations, Skullduggery, Frauds, Pseudoscience, Propaganda, Hoaxes, Flimflam, Pranks, Hornswoggle, Conspiracies & Miscella

by Rex Sorgatz, Lorenzo Petrantoni (Illustrator)

Overview

How have the media, government, technology, and history deceived us? Have fake and real become indistinguishable? Were we ever unburdened of disinformation, or is deception bound to the human experience? Are we being manipulated right now, or worse yet, are we deceiving ourselves?

These are the provocative questions within The Encyclopedia of Misinformation, a compendium of deception and delusion throughout history. In a frolicking series of vignettes, author Rex Sorgatz saunters through propaganda and subterfuge in eclectic contexts, including science and religion, comedy and law, sports and video games.

Slingshotting through conspiracy theories, internet and popular culture, and perplexing psychological phenomena, this compendium illuminates deliriously diverse subjects: Artificial Intelligence, Auto-Tune, Chilean Sea Bass, Claques, Clickbait, Cognitive Dissonance, Cryptids, Dark Matter, False Flag Operations, Gaslighting, Gerrymandering, Kayfabe, Laugh Tracks, Milli Vanilli, Phantom Time Hypothesis, Photoshopping, Potemkin Villages, Rachel Dolezal, Strategery, Truthiness, and the Uncanny Valley.



Encyclopedic in scope, but with an incisive voice tuned to these bedeviling times, this is the modern reference book to engage a world rife with artifice and deception.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419729119
Publisher:	ABRAMS
Publication date:	03/27/2018
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	742,568
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Rex Sorgatz is a writer, designer, and technologist based in New York City. His previous incarnations include being the editor of a paranormal magazine, an early blogger, a contributing editor at Wired, an executive producer at msnbc.com, the founder of several startups, and part of a team awarded a Pulitzer Prize. His digital media consulting agency has worked with SNL, BuzzFeed, The Week, IFC, NBC, MLS, Mediaite, Newsweek, Rookie Mag, and more. His reflections on the intersection of media, technology, and culture have appeared around the internet, including New York and Backchannel.

Editorial Reviews

Occasional salty language and pop-culture references make this compendium of 300 short entries a delightful mix of high- and lowbrow.

Booklist

In an era of “alternative facts,” Rex Sorgatz’s The Encyclopedia of Misinformation helps put things in perspective.

Fast Company

"A book about Trump without mentioning Trump."

Peter Kafka

"A practical guide to the nightmare mediascape in which we find ourselves."

Paul Ford

"Rex Sorgatz explains it all."

Vanity Fair

In an era of “alternative facts,” Rex Sorgatz’s The Encyclopedia of Misinformation helps put things in perspective.

Fast Company

Occasional salty language and pop-culture references make this compendium of 300 short entries a delightful mix of high- and lowbrow.

Booklist

07/01/2018
Unlike purposeful deception, misinformation encompasses perhaps equally disconcerting yet distinct areas including conspiracy theories, Frankenfood, and plastic surgery. Readers will find half-page entries on fanfic, mimicry, and the Streisand effect. Entrepreneur and Wired magazine contributor Sorgatz includes political jabs and profanity from time to time. VERDICT A fascinating browse, particularly illuminating on misinformation of the last 50 years or so (the Beanie Baby bubble; photoshopping) and reaching back to Xeno's paradox and the philosopher's stone.

Library Journal