THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE by Marshall McLuhan & Quentin Fiore (Touchstone: $8.95)

Marshall McLuhan’s central thesis, that the medium of transmission determines how information is perceived, has obvious implications for a society increasingly saturated with electronic data. The revolution in communications technology that spawned the FAX machine, the personal computer with modem, cable and satellite television and the video cassette has brought his concept of the “global village” closer to reality. Ironically, McLuhan’s ideas remain fresh and cogent, but their presentation in this reprint has become a hilariously passe monument to hip ‘60s graphics. The solarized photographs, exotic type faces, Op Art patterns and serial images make this book seem as dated as a zoot suit.