My Pilgrim’s Progress

What It’s About?: A study of the media culture of the United States, how television came to dominate media consumption in the 1950s, and how things continued to evolve towards the end of the twentieth-century.

George W. S. Trow (1943-2006) wrote for The New Yorker for almost thirty years, and had published several books and essays. His most famous essay, “Within the Context of No Context,” a critique of the effects of television on American society, was later published in 1981 as a book. My Pilgrim’s Progress came later.

My opinion: It’s not an easy book to read, but it’s a nice little artefact for anyone wanting to learn about the media ecosystem; how the old became the new. It is focused almost exclusively on the New York City school of journalism, but I won’t hold that against Trow, because a lot of what comes out of there is widely read — and even imitated — across the world, including Australia and its intelligentsia (especially along our east coast). That, and it was published before the internet took off, so that’s something to keep in mind.

Rather than simply rant about how messed up the media ecosystem is, Trow handles his subject as if mourning the loss of a loved one — how a certain era of the media came to its end. The era of tradition, substance, and social hierarchy, replaced by the era of celebrity and spectacle. Once the television landed on the scene, it changed the game forever. The thought that it might be something of a novelty was replaced by the realisation that every other form of media never stood a chance against it. And yet, the fact that a book like this exists is a kind of testament to just how far gone that old era is now.

My only issue with this book is that Trow relies way too heavily on the “there is no history, only biography” philosophy, coupled with an overly conversational style that lends itself more to audio- or video-based formats than the written word. He can really throw you off in parts, rambling and lingering on a topic in one part, jumping suddenly from one thing to another elsewhere, and not really making any sort of point. Often, he will appeal to his own authority, saying, “You’ll have to trust me on this one,” which left me wondering where he stands on anything discussed. This could be due to the fact that the book was transcribed from audio recordings, but overall, the text feels like a denser version of “Within the Context of No Context.” That being said, My Pilgrim’s Progress could be interpreted as an expanded text to accompany his famous essay.

This book came into my orbit between reading Trust Me, I’m Lying and Conspiracy by Ryan Holiday, at a time when I was reading everything I could find on the economics of the media, be it traditional or online. What makes it worth reading is that it does challenge the reader to really stop and think about the history of media consumption.

And, it gives a bit of perspective on New York City in the post-war era as well, if that interests you.

When you look at it that way, it has its value.