Marshall McLuhan and the Extensions of Man

When I agreed to write a critique of Marshall McLuhan's two memorable recent operas, The Gutenberg Galaxy and Understanding Media1 -and they are "operas" rather than "opuses"-I did so with the understanding that the two books as such could no more be reviewed than a bullfight or a football game. They do not stand still long enough. McLuhan's ideas are a three-dimensional movable feast. Sooner or