{"product_id":"look-out-the-delight-and-danger-of-taking-the-long-view-hardcover","title":"Look Out: The Delight and Danger of Taking the Long View - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eEdward McPherson\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A charming, idiosyncratic meditation on the human urge to see further, and more, in this cultural history of the 'aerial view' . . . McPherson makes an elliptical and enchanting case for reinserting wherever possible the ground-level, human perspective . . . Redolent with insights into the ethical quandary of history-making, as well as the author's own sense of awe at the full sweep of the human story, this is a wonder.\"\u003cbr\u003e--\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs if Borges and Didion took a tour with Sebald through the beauty and terror of our present and past, \u003ci\u003eLook Out \u003c\/i\u003eis a profound and prismatic investigation of taking the long view.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLook Out\u003c\/i\u003e is an exploration of long-distance mapping, aerial photography, and top-down and far-ranging perspectives--from pre-Civil War America to our vexed modern times of drone warfare, hyper-surveillance at home and abroad, and quarantine and protest. Blending history, reporting, personal experience, and accounts of activists, programmers, spies, astronauts, artists, inventors, and dreamers, Edward McPherson reveals that to see is to control--and the stakes are high for everyone. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe aerial view--a position known in Greek as the catascopos, or \"the looker-down\"--is a fundamentally privileged perspective, inaccessible to those left on the ground. To the earthbound, (in)sights from such rarified heights convey power and authority. McPherson casts light on our fetishization of distance as a path to truth and considers the awe and apocalypse of taking the long view.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eEdward McPherson is the author of \u003ci\u003eBuster Keaton: Tempest in a Flat Hat\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Backwash Squeeze and Other Improbable Feats\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe History of the Future: American Essays\u003c\/i\u003e. He has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Pushcart Prize, among other awards. He teaches creative writing at Washington University in St. Louis.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 304\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.4 x 9.2 x 5.9 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 21, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51978323951917,"sku":"9781662602955","price":28.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0938\/3185\/6429\/files\/DikZ6Q6TvG9781662602955.webp?v=1775801625","url":"https:\/\/ishookbooks.com\/products\/look-out-the-delight-and-danger-of-taking-the-long-view-hardcover","provider":"iShook Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}