Description
In this lively, carefully argued, and well-documented book, Hyde brings the past to bear on present matters, shedding fresh light on everything from the Human Genome Project to Bob Dylan's musical root, revealing a vision of how to reclaim the commonwealth of art and ideas that we were meant to inherit.
Status
Available
Call number
Publication
New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010.
Media reviews
... A multi-layered critique of intellectual property, a modern phenomenon he describes as 'historically strange.' ... Thoroughly stimulating ... [E]ven readers who disagree with Hyde's conclusions will be enriched by Common as Air. If we could make it required reading, it would surely improve our
Show More
world. Show Less
Intellectual property has become such a hot topic that it needs to be doused with some history. Strange as it may sound, this is an argument developed convincingly in Lewis Hyde’s “Common as Air,” an eloquent and erudite plea for protecting our cultural patrimony from appropriation by
Show More
commercial interests. ... Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member pikarun
I picked this book up after hearing the author interviewed as he was very thought-provoking. I was used to thinking of intellectual property in the "property is property" frame even if I had vague problems with it. This book really made me fundamentally rethink what intellectual property, patents,
Show More
and copyrights can mean--that there are other ways of thinking than what is commercially popular. I wish everyone could read this book (or perhaps something shorter and less philosophical) so that we could have our eyes opened to how narrow the discussion has gotten from the available options. Show Less
Awards
Julia Ward Howe Book Award (Winner — 2011)
The New York Times Notable Books of the Year (Nonfiction — 2010)
Language
Original publication date
2010
ISBN
0374223130 / 9780374223137