contrarian

(Available to the trade through Baker & Taylor, Ingram Books & Partners West Dist.)

"It starts the conversation we need to be having
about digital life!"

Jason in the Media talking about the Cult of Tech

"An insider’s perceptive look at how digital technology is consuming the consumer
...An entertaining, insightful book that a digitally dependent reader won’t soon forget."
~ Kirkus Reviews

"FIVE STARS!
Too Much Magic Might just be the best of the lot…Benlevi gives the reader an indispensable primer.
This book is well-deserving of a large audience.."
~ San Francisco Book Review

Jason Benlevi's TOO MUCH MAGIC is the story of how venture capital, media moguls and marketeers use digital magic to distract us, invade our privacy, corrupt democracy, distort our human values and sell us things that we don't need.

Authored by Silicon Valley marketing communications guru Jason Benlevi, TOO MUCH MAGIC looks at all aspects of our emerging digital lifestyle, how it is changing us, and who really is benefiting.

We have a long love/hate relationship with technology. However, the problem is usually not technology itself, but rather the powers that are deciding its course. The conflict is apparent as we witness people standing in line overnight, eagerly waiting to buy the newest tech gadget, while at the same time every film about the future from Metropolis to Blade Runner to Avatar depicts a dystopia that is entirely built upon technology.

Originally, the Mac and personal computing revolution were about self-empowerment, and the Internet was a utility for people to share knowledge. Now that revolution is in danger of being turned against us. TOO MUCH MAGIC explains how the Cult of Tech, a convergence of business, media and academic interests, is infiltrating every aspect of our lives through clever marketing and “digital convergence.”

TOO MUCH MAGIC examines what “being digital” really means. The book details historic changes in our entertainment, personal communications, play time, public affairs and social interactions. It also sounds an alarm on the escalating yet stealthy attacks upon our basic freedoms.

TOO MUCH MAGIC tells readers what powerful interests don’t want them to know about the their increasingly digital lives. Prescriptively, author Benlevi points out ways we can choose to disengage from technology delightfully and exactly what we each can do to preserve our humanity, independence and creativity – all of which could vanish through deceptive acts of digital magic.

Although the topic is serious, the tone is entertaining and irreverent, offering a refreshing contrarian take that comes from a deep understanding of technology and correlated cultural knowledge. It is a unique blend of skepticism and enthusiasm for the digital age.

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