Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide

So You've Been Publicly Shamed

Jon Ronson · 313 pages

"From the internationally bestselling author of The Psychopath Test, a captivating and brilliant exploration of one of our world's most overlooked forces. For the past three years, Jon Ronson has been immersing himself in the world of modern-day public shaming-meeting famous shamees, shamers, and bystanders who have been impacted. This is the perfect time for a modern-day Scarlet Letter-a radicall

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion

Jia Tolentino · 303 pages

Everything Bad is Good for You

Steven Johnson · 255 pages

Forget everything you've read about the age of dumbed-down, instant-gratification culture. In this provocative, intelligent, and convincing endorsement of today's mass entertainment, national bestselling author Steven Johnson argues that the pop culture we soak in every day-from The Lord of the Rings to Grand Theft Auto to The Simpsons-has been growing more and more sophisticated and, far from rot

Harry, a History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon

Melissa Anelli · 356 pages

An analysis of the pop-culture phenomenon surrounding the Harry Potter series, written by the founder of "The Leaky Cauldron" website, evaluates how the books inspired international camaraderie and a generation of new readers.

The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy: A Handbook for Girl Geeks

Sam Maggs · 207 pages

"Fanfic, cosplay, cons, books, memes, podcasts, vlogs, OTPs and RPGs and MMOs and more - it's never been a better time to be a girl geek. The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy is the ultimate handbook for ladies living the nerdy life, a fun and feminist take on the often male-dominated world of geekdom. With delightful illustrations and an unabashed love for all the in(ternet)s and outs of geek cultur

Modern Romance

Aziz Ansari, Eric Klinenberg · 288 pages

From NYU Wagner: At some point, every one of us embarks on a journey to find love. We meet people, date, get into and out of relationships, all with the hope of finding someone with whom we share a deep connection. This seems standard now, but it’s wildly different from what people did even just decades ago. Single people today have more romantic options than at any point in human history. Wit

The Filter Bubble: What the Internet is Hiding From You

Eli Pariser · 300 pages

The hidden rise of personalization on the Internet is controlling--and limiting--the information we consume. In 2009, Google began customizing its search results. Instead of giving you the most broadly popular result, Google now tries to predict what you are most likely to click on. According to MoveOn.org board president Eli Pariser, this change is symptomatic of the most significant shift to tak

The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture

Andrew Keen · 232 pages

Silicon Valley insider and pundit Andrew Keen claims that today's new participatory Web 2.0 threatens our values, economy, and ultimately the very innovation and creativity that forms the fabric of American achievement. In today's self-broadcasting culture, where amateurism is celebrated and anyone with an opinion, however ill-informed, can publish a blog, post a video on YouTube, or change an ent

Mythologies

Roland Barthes · 158 pages

"This new edition of MYTHOLOGIES is the first complete, authoritative English version of the French classic, Roland Barthes's most emblematic work"--

Bad Feminist

Roxane Gay · 360 pages

A collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism from one of the most-watched young cultural observers of her generation, Roxane Gay. "Pink is my favorite color. I used to say my favorite color was black to be cool, but it is pink, all shades of pink. If I have an accessory, it is probably pink. I read Vogue, and I'm not doing it ironically, though it might seem that way. I once l

BITCHfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch Magazine

Lisa Jervis, Andi Zeisler · 386 pages

Offers an assortment of the most provocative essays, reporting, rants, and raves from Bitch magazine's first ten years, along with new pieces written especially for this collection.

The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads

Tim Wu · 416 pages

"From Tim Wu, author of award-winning The Master Switch, and who coined the phrase "net neutrality"--a revelatory look at the rise of "attention harvesting," and its transformative effect on our society and our selves"--

Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media

Susan J. Douglas · 368 pages

The Art of Immersion: How the Digital Generation Is Remaking Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the Way We Tell Stories

Frank Rose · 361 pages

Wired contributing editor Frank Rose introduces readers to the people who are reshaping media for a two-way world--people like Will Wright (The Sims), James Cameron (Avatar), Damon Lindelof (Lost), and dozens of others whose ideas are changing how we play, how we chill, and even how we think.

We Were Feminists Once: From Riot Grrrl to CoverGirl®, the Buying and Selling of a Political Movement

Andi Zeisler · 304 pages

"A critical assessment of feminism today by the founding editor and creative director of Bitch magazine draws on the stories of institutions and everyday women to illuminate how feminism has been compromised by market forces, subversive politics and popular culture, sharing strategic recommendations for how to reverse marginalizing trends,"--NoveList.

The Culture Industry

Theodor W. Adorno · 194 pages

"The creation of the Frankfurt School of critical theory in the 1920s saw the birth of some of the most exciting and challenging writings of the twentieth century. It is out of this background that the great critic Theodor Adorno emerged. His finest essays are collected here, offering the reader unparalleled insights into Adorno's thoughts on culture. He argued that the culture industry commodifie

Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood

Maureen Ryan · 348 pages

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

Neil Postman · 184 pages

Amusing Ourselves to Death is a prophetic look at what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of entertainment. It is also a blueprint for regaining control of our media, so that they can serve our highest goals.

Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media

Noam Chomsky, Edward S. Herman · 412 pages

Discusses the ways in which the mass media are manipulated to present the news according to an underlying elite consenus which affects the manner in which similar events in different parts of the world are presented.

Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman

Anne Helen Petersen · 285 pages

A popular BuzzFeed columnist examines the phenomenon of popular provocative womanhood to discuss the rise of such counterculture stars as Amy Schumer, Nicki Minaj, and Caitlyn Jenner, exploring why they are popular in spite of nonconforming behaviors. "From celebrity gossip expert and Buzzfeed culture writer Anne Helen Petersen comes an accessible, analytical look at how female celebrities are pu

Trainwreck: The Women We Love to Hate, Mock, and Fear... and Why

Sady Doyle · 324 pages

"From Mary Wollstonecraft--who, for decades after her death, was more famous for her illegitimate child and suicide attempts than for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman--to Charlotte Brontë, Billie Holiday, Sylvia Plath, and even Hillary Clinton, [this book] dissects a centuries-old phenomenon and asks what it means now, in a time when we have unprecedented access to celebrities and civilians al

Play Like a Fangirl

Kristine Ask, Ashley Guajardo, Tanja Sihvonen, and Jess Tompkins

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto

Chuck Klosterman · 258 pages

"Countless writers and artists have spoken for a generation, but no one has done it quite like Chuck Klosterman. With an exhaustive knowledge of popular culture and an almost effortless ability to spin brilliant prose out of unlikely subject matter, Klosterman attacks the entire spectrum of postmodern America: reality TV, Internet porn, Pamela Anderson, literary Jesus freaks, and the real differen

Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One's Looking)

Christian Rudder · 302 pages

An irreverent, provocative, and visually fascinating look at what our online lives reveal about who we really are--and how this deluge of data will transform the science of human behavior. Big Data is used to spy on us, hire and fire us, and sell us things we don't need. In Dataclysm, Christian Rudder puts this flood of information to an entirely different use: understanding human nature. Drawing