Before the internet made everything simulation by default, Eco was already wandering through America asking why copies sometimes feel more persuasive than originals.

Travels in Hyperreality collects his essays on theme parks, wax museums, television, medieval revivals, and the strange hunger for “the real” that produces ever more elaborate replicas.

Eco writes as a semiotician with a tourist’s curiosity. Disneyland, San Simeon, the Midwest wax museum — these become case studies in how authenticity is staged and consumed. The argument is cool rather than alarmist: hyperreality isn’t a conspiracy, it’s a cultural logic. We don’t just tolerate simulations; we prefer them.

Sharp, funny, occasionally sly (classic Eco) the book sits at the hinge between postmodern theory and cultural reportage. It remains unsettlingly current — a reminder that the spectacle was already humming long before the feed.

First edition hardback in near fine condition. Very collectible.