Fiore described The Medium is the Massage as having ‘no “original” manuscript. The idea was to select some of McLuhan’s ideas from previous publications and present them in isolated ‘patches’ on individual spreads with accompanying artwork.’ The major sources for the book were McLuhan’s 1962 Gutenberg Galaxy and 1964 Understanding Media, the two texts that were gaining him notoriety for their aphoristic style and unqualified assertions. The most striking aspect of The Medium is the Massage, however, is the way it explores the space of the book – its literal scale and sequential unfolding – as part of its content. For instance, the full-bleed images that introduce an idea on one spread are repeated on the following spread at postage stamp size. This structure, repeated across several pages, encourages the images to be read differently according to their scale and juxtaposition to other images and words. Fiore’s layouts destabilise the traditional hierarchy of image and caption, text and illustration. Elsewhere, Fiore highlights the literal dimension of the book with a spread showing the thumbs of the reader holding the pages open: a photographic doubling of the reader’s own hands.