My wife did a BA in Communications about a decade ago and I read quite a lot of the material from her course. I found the post modern slant to her studies was interesting but it occurred to me that an initial grounding in a so-called classical liberal education would have been useful. Perhaps essential.



So I picked up this book on PM to get re-acquainted with the theory. I haven't been disappointed, as Butler knows his material and takes the reader on a brief though informed journey through this sometimes odd landscape. I have always thought that aspects of PM were either banal (the bleeding obvious dressed up with huge lashings of academic discourse) or simply too theory-laden to have a wider application. Butler is clearly a little skeptical too, though not nearly as much as me. He is critical in places where criticism is due, but overall, he is restrained and fairly balanced.



This is not a beginner's book but certainly a good entry point for further study or those contemplating a journey into the post modern world.