Lawrence Pintak. Reflections in a Bloodshot Lens: America, Islam and the War of Ideas.

Lawrence Pintak. Reflections in a Bloodshot Lens: America, Islam and the War of Ideas. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Pluto Press, 2006, 392 pages. Paper $26.95.

Pintak provides a comprehensive analysis of media representations on both US and Muslims alike. He discusses the implications of the distorting media reports on Islam and the Muslim world, especially after September 11. This inaccurate image, he argues, is a result of centuries of 'us' against 'them' dichotomy. The gap in perceptions was created due to the dramatically different versions of the same reality. This is a stimulating analysis of what he means by them viewing each other in a bloodshot lens.

The book centers on worldviews, their origin and hopeless direction. The Othering, he says, is the root of much of the world's violence. The US citizens' collective sense of self, that is 'us,' came to replace the 'other' from the Soviet Union to Islam. In other words, Arabs and Muslims have been Othered in the US society. The historical frame in which this Othering took place was that of Orientalism, a legacy of colonialism. This is the theoretical framework within which he posits his findings. The book is divided into four sections; foundations of the relationship, the framing of an era, perceptions of policy, and hearts and minds.

Pintak's book is extensively based on journalistic sources that are well documented and based on a comprehensive assortment of media outlets in both worlds. This book would be very useful to media students and also general public affairs readers.