From the Bauhaus to Buckminster Fuller, and from Elvis to ecology, the writings of John McHale (1922–1978) engage a diverse set of concerns. Focused on questions of art, architecture, ecology, and the mass media, all of McHale’s writings wrestle with questions of expendability and the future, and the impact of technological and social change on traditional ideas of culture. Assembled from a broad range of sources, the essays gathered together here enable a sharper grasp on key terms that preoccupied McHale, such as expendability, lifestyle, and network, many of which have become central to debates in the present.

The Expendable Reader includes an introduction by Alex Kitnick and an afterword by Mark Wigley.