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Reality TV: The Work of Being Watched. Mark Andrejevic. Lanharn, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2003.
In TV-centric households, the struggle for control of the remote since the summer 2000 boom in reality television has reached epic proportions. A certain cadre of annoyed armchair critics is dismayed by reality TV, claiming "It's not real!" Their smug counterparts grab the remote and settle in for a night of The Swan or Fear Factor, arguing that if only people would stop worrying about "reality" and just enjoy the ridiculously contrived entertainment offered, all would be good. In this new book on reality television, Mark Andrejevic smartly problematizes both perspectives and points the way to a different understanding of the phenomenon.
This is the most provocative and theoretically sophisticated of the recent spate of books on reality TV. Rather than providing extensive description and plot summaries of particular shows, Andrejevic begins with an examination of the promises and pitfalls of reality TV for the...