Necessary Illusions

What a letdown following Manufacturing Consent. This book is no more than a weak addendum to that masterpiece. Where the Herman-Chomsky opus has concise examples, clear argument, and engaging structure, Necessary Illusions has examples that go on too long without reaching a defined point, a stagnant and vague thesis of “media serves power”, and is mystifyingly structured into a short text followed by a series of plotless appendices. This book could be simply formulated as a comparison of the case studies of US media treatment of Nicaragua and Israel. That's all this book is. Instead, Chomsky flits between the two studies without rhyme or reason, alternating information about the case studies in nonsensical sequence.