Will Self on Guy Debord
Thursday 23 January 2014, 7 p.m. · 84 minutes
The Spectacle is a map which completely covers its territory...
Will Self was at the shop to discuss the work of Guy Debord, and in particular The Society of the Spectacle, a 1967 work which offered an eerily accurate prediction of our mediated, image-saturated times. Self's introduction to the new Notting Hill edition breathes fresh life into the original 1970 translation. He writes:
'Never before has Debord’s work seemed quite as relevant as it does now, in the permanent present that he so accurately foretold. Open it, read it, be amazed ...’
Self was joined in discussion by film-maker Patrick Keiller, whose recent book The View from the Train explores the cities and landscapes of modern Britain. The event was chaired by Matthew Beaumont, Senior Lecturer at UCL and editor of Restless Cities.
View pictures from the event in our gallery. Read Will Self's article on the work of Patrick Keiller in this online exclusive from the London Review of Books, or view a full list of books featured at this event.
