[solocshaw]

I was introduced to McLuhan after I read Baudrillard's "America". Even though Baudrillard's written off as an obscurantist I still think the essay gives rich descriptions of the otherwise prosaic.

I mean, there's a part where he just talks about American deserts. He goes on to describe a gas station's lights always being on noting the temporariness of buildings like it.

[look_lookatme]

Another writer that had a bead on the way we live now was Debord. I think it's absolutely worth thumbing through The Society of the Spectacle [1] just as an exercise in contextualizing the modern life. Different writers/theorists for sure, but worthy of consideration.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Society_of_the_Spectacle