American readers in academia and business have been enthusiastic
in their appreciation of The Civilization of Illiteracy. A few samples:
In comparing Nadin's work with critiques of contemporary civilization, such as Marshall McLuhan or Jacques Derrida, I find Nadin's approach is based on a broader basis of factual observation. The Civilization of Illiteracy is the most impressive manuscript I have seen in the course of my scholarly life of over half a century.
Victor Terras, Brown University
A stunning analysis that places literacy in a large mosaic-like context of signs, language, mediation, and work. Previous writing on literacy now seems simplistic. Instead of nostalgically bemoaning a lost golden age, Nadin shows how understanding literacy as a tool can explain the way it has developed, and what is coming in the future. He discusses the power of the visual--from drawings and diagrams through to cinema and digital television--and makes striking conclusions about how literacy is finding a new role in a world of many media for communication, expression, and work.
The book is truly pragmatic. It discusses this phenomenon in the context of our changing society, our families, our diet, our sports, and our religion. The message will certainly have a dynamic effect on the reader, creating an image of the future that is both surprising and convincing.
Jeffrey Nickerson, Director, National Internet Practice, Coopers & Lybrand Consulting
The Civilization of Illiteracy is a most impressive work which follows in the tradition of McLuhan in finding a post-literate culture now dominant. But the work transcends McLuhan in the breadth of its learning and the depth of its analysis. Clearly Nadin is a master scholar who has scarcely a peer in his field.
E.D. Hirsch, Jr., University of Virginia, Author of Cultural Literacy
That knowledge is process and that students and teachers of all ages are partners in this process is what Nadin perceives education to be in the Civilization of Illiteracy. This is philosophy of education at its best.
Philip L. Smith, Professor, Philosophy of Education, Ohio State University
No question about it that this book will make people think and think, and propel us into the future without discarding what has been useful in the past.
Richard Zakia, Professor, Rochester Institute of Technology
The Civilization of Illiteracy is an epitome of thought. The angle from which it sheds light on the present landscape of immediacy creates a rainbow of hope from the mists of the newly engulfing watershed of human solvency.
Nathan Felde, Designer, Computer Scientist, Inventor