{"product_id":"the-last-dinosaur-book-the-life-and-times-of-a-cultural-icon","title":"The Last Dinosaur Book: The Life and Times of a Cultural Icon","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor animals that have been dead millions of years  dinosaurs are extraordinarily pervasive in our everyday lives. Appearing in ads  books  movies  museums  television  toy stores  and novels  they continually fascinate both adults and children. How did they move from natural extinction to pop culture resurrection? What is the source of their powerful appeal? Until now  no one has addressed this question in a comprehensive way. In this lively and engrossing exploration of the animals place in our lives  W.J.T. Mitchell shows why we are so attached to the myth and the reality of the \"terrible lizards.\"  Mitchell aims to trace the cultural family tree of the dinosaur  and what he discovers is a creature of striking flexibility  linked to dragons and mammoths  skyscrapers and steam engines  cowboys and Indians. In the vast territory between the cunning predators of Jurassic Park and the mawkishly sweet Barney  from political leviathans to corporate icons  from paleontology to Barnum and Bailey  Mitchell finds a cultural symbol whose plurality of meaning and often contradictory nature is emblematic of modern society itself. As a scientific entity  the dinosaur endured a near-eclipse for over a century  but as an image it is enjoying its widest circulation. And it endures  according to Mitchell  because it is uniquely malleable  a figure of both innovation and obsolescence  massive power and pathetic failurethe totem animal of modernity.  Drawing unforeseen and unusual connections at every turn between dinosaurs real and imagined  The Last Dinosaur Book is the first to delve so deeply  so insightfully  and so enjoyably into our modern dino-obsession.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44946801459253,"sku":"ByrdShop_0226532046","price":63.65,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780226532042.jpg?v=1769966862","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-last-dinosaur-book-the-life-and-times-of-a-cultural-icon","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}