The darkly comic series about the secret lives of Bree, Gabrielle, Lynette, Susan and the other ladies living on Wisteria Lane became an instant breakthrough hit when it premiered in the fall of 2004. Reading Desperate Housewives offers a wide-ranging critical assessment of one of the most talked about shows on American television, dissecting its appeal and tapping into early responses to the show and the controversy surrounding it. Essays consider such diverse issues as its representation of the war of the sexes and how it illuminates contemporary feminism, Republican politics and the rise of the Right, gender and femininity, motherhood and marriage--as well as the rumors surrounding that notorious Vanity Fair cover shoot. Also including an episode guide, this enjoyable companion asks: Has this show done for suburban women what Sex and the City did for the single girl?
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About the Author
Kim Akass is Lecturer in Film Studies at London Metropolitan University. Janet McCabe is Lecturer in Film Studies at Trinity College, Dublin. Both are editors of Reading Sex & the City (I.B.Tauris, 2004) and Reading Six Feet Under (I.B.Tauris, 2005) and Reading the L-Word (I.B.Tauris, 2006).
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Academic, dry,
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This review is from: Reading 'Desperate Housewives': Beyond the White Picket Fence (Reading Contemporary Television) (Paperback)
***
I bought this book as a fan of Desperate Housewives. It is, however, inappropriate for most fans. It is a collection of 17 essays on DH, primarily feminist writings. I slogged through three essays and gave up. They seem to be well-written, but they were just too academic and dry for me. The chapters are (1) Culture, (2) Sexual Politics, (3) Genre, Gender, and Cultural Myths, (4) Narrative, Confssion and Intimacy. All of these topics are of interest to me, but I still couldn't handle the writing style and content---just too dry and frankly, boring. If you are looking for very serious, academic writing, and are a DH fan, you could potentially enjoy this book. The book includes an episode guide for seasons one and two, an extensive bibliography, an index, and a film and tv guide. The authors are all distinguished writers and critics. It seems to me that it would be a great resource for a graduate level media class. I would not ever recommend it for regular fans, however, even committed ones like me. ***
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Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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desperate housewives, teenage gardener, confessional exchange, televisual discourse, happy housewife, contemporary television, reality television Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Mary Alice, Wisteria Lane, Bree Van de Kamp, Marc Cherry, Gabrielle Solis, Edie Britt, Lynette Scavo, Susan Mayer, Mike Delfino, Marcia Cross, United States, Betty Friedan, Martha Huber, Martha Stewart, Rex Van de Kamp, Mean Girls, Andrea Yates, John Rowland, Laura Bush, Leave It To Beaver, Maisy Gibbons, Paul Young, Vanity Fair, George Williams, Sharon Lawrence New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
desperate housewives, teenage gardener, confessional exchange, televisual discourse, happy housewife, contemporary television, reality television Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Mary Alice, Wisteria Lane, Bree Van de Kamp, Marc Cherry, Gabrielle Solis, Edie Britt, Lynette Scavo, Susan Mayer, Mike Delfino, Marcia Cross, United States, Betty Friedan, Martha Huber, Martha Stewart, Rex Van de Kamp, Mean Girls, Andrea Yates, John Rowland, Laura Bush, Leave It To Beaver, Maisy Gibbons, Paul Young, Vanity Fair, George Williams, Sharon Lawrence New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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- The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan on 6 pages
- Reading Sex and the City (Reading Contemporary Television) by Kim Akass on 4 pages
- How Clean Is Your House?: Hundreds of Handy Tips to Make Your Home Sparkle by Aggie MacKenzie in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Masculinity: Bodies, Movies, Culture (AFI Film Readers) by Peter Lehman in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir on page 202, and Back Matter
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