CHOICES: Never-Ending Dilemmas in Everyday Life

Arthur Asa Berger

jan 2024 · Vernon Press

Rreth këtij libri elektronik

This book is about the never-ending need we have to make choices. If you think about it, we have to decide what time to wake up every morning, what to wear (unless we need to wear a uniform), what to have for breakfast (if we eat breakfast), lunch and dinner (and if we eat in restaurants, what to order), and our need to make all kinds of other choices all day long.

Some of our choices are mundane, like what to have for breakfast (if we eat breakfast): to have coffee or tea (and if so, plain or with milk), cereal, toast or a bagel (and if so, what kind: plain, with poppy seeds, with everything) or a sweet roll, eggs (if so, fried, soft boiled, scrambled), and so on. Most of the choices we make are not important, and we often develop habits to relieve us of having to think about our choices.

For example, I have the same thing for breakfast every day: a bowl of oatmeal with chia seeds and flax seeds, hot milk, a cup of espresso coffee with hot milk, and half a bagel with butter. Occasionally, I have a soft-boiled egg, as well.

But other choices we have to make are life-changing, such as how to live (single, living with a partner, or getting married), what kind of education to get, what kind of job or profession to choose, where to live and what kind of house to buy (if you can afford a house), whom to vote for, and so on. After reading this book, you will better understand the role that the choices we make play in society and culture and in our everyday lives. 

Rreth autorit

Arthur Asa Berger is the author of more than 100 scholarly articles and more than 70 books on media, popular culture, semiotics and humour. He has written numerous articles on humour which have been published in journals in America and other countries, together with several books on the same subject including: 'Li’L Abner: A Study in American Satire' (his PhD dissertation); 'An Anatomy of Humor'; 'The Art of Comedy Writing'; 'Blind Men and Elephants: Perspectives on Humor'; 'The Genius of the Jewish Joke'; and 'Jewish Jester'.

He taught Comedy Writing and Sitcom Writing in the Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts Department at San Francisco State University for a number of years. Arthur was also elected into the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Communication Hall of Fame. His teaching career spans continents; from teaching at the University of Milan, by way of a Fulbright to Italy in 1963, to later teaching as a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Argentina and Belarus. In addition, he has also lectured in countries such as Iran, France, Germany, Vietnam and China, to name a few. In line with this, many of his books have been translated into nine languages including Chinese and Turkish.