The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and the Birth of Public Relations

by Larry Tye

Book Overview

The Father of Spin is the first full-length biography of the legendary Edward L. Bernays, who, beginning in the 1920s, was one of the first and most successful practitioners of the art of public relations. This book tells of Bernays's great campaigns, including: His precedent-setting work for the American Tobacco Company, climaxed by a parade of cigarette-smoking debutantes down Fifth Avenue on Easter Sunday that recast smoking as an act of liberation...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0517704358
• ISBN13: 9780517704356
• Release Date: July 1998
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 306 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.5" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Tedious

An incredibly longwinded book which has very little to do with spin and far too much to do with subject's troubled family relationships.

A Great Read

I enjoyed this book immensely. Tye chronicles Bernay's life and times well. Bernay's is presented as a genius and a demon and the facts support that he was both! If you disagree, read this book; it reveals how there are no real heroes, just good/bad/indifferent PR!

a compelling and unexpected biography

Larry Tye takes on a subject that few journalists would regard of savory: the biography of a PR man. One might dismiss PR people as not meriting attention or even toleration. But Tye walks a fine line here because the life of Eddie Bernays has some tension and complexity, and the book makes that clear. He is a worthwhile character study, not just for people in the communications industry, but also those in business more generally, politics, or interested in consumer and opinion issues. As Freud's nephew, Bernays carried around more heritage than most, and how he shoulders that burden creates interest. Bernays also placed himself at the forefront of an industry's development, and that creates another set of issues. The book is fraught with the same conflict that many deal with in communications: are they adding egocentric bias to information, or warping it for vested powers? Lastly, Bernays had a role in helping leaders develop their visibility, but does he stand as a peer at their shoulders? Tye does a great job at making us reflect on these issues in this highly readable book.

This is a great, great, great book

I am a PR professional. I read a lot of books about PR. This one is definitely on the top of my list. Many thanks and praises to the author for his fantastic contribution.

A great read!

You've seen Wag the Dog and Primary Colors, you've watched politicians talk out of both sides of their mouths, you've seen the President get into trouble only to have the spin doctors bail him out. Ever wonder where it all started? This book is what you new to read to find out.Larry Tye gives you the reader an in depth look at Edward Bernay's and the birth of public relation or the beginnings of spin. From Bernay's start in the 1920's to his revolutionary ideas of parading women down the streets of New York to promote smoking you'll get a fist hand look at how spin works.Read through the 260 plus pages and see why we use spin, how public relations can and does affect public opinion. Watch and learn from the father or master of the public relations. Larry Tye has a well researched and extremely detail account of the beginnings.Fascinated and educated are the two words to describe what I walked away from this book with. Fascination about Bernay's ability to make things come out his way and sway the public to follow, educated has to how spin control works in today's culture. A great read for all!

This is one great read!!!!

I enjoyed this book immensely. Tye chronicles Bernay's lifeand times well. Bernay's is presented as a genius and a demon and thefacts support that he was both! If you disagree, read this book; it reveals how there are no real heroes, just good/bad/indifferent PR!