I Like to Watch is a culmination of 20+ years of revelatory television writing from Emily Nussbaum. The essays in this collection elevate the shows I’ve watched and love to greater heights. It makes me feel like an idiot for having missed other shows. Even when panning shows a love, the reader comes away with a richer view of the show. Beautiful ruminations on why we watch and why television is enriching art and not the brain draining waste some dullards try and make it out to be.

An interesting and varied collection of essays on television. I felt that the profile of Ryan Murphy was the highlight.

I received an advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review

Very smart writing about the platinum age of television – it was entertaining to read the essays even about the shows I don’t watch. If you’re interested in humorous dissections of popular culture in a “personal is political” fashion, you will enjoy this book.

An absorbing thought provoking group of essays by Pulitzer Prize essayist Emily Nussbaum. She writes about her preference for tv over movies how their are no low brow high brow movies.Her essay on True Detective caught my attention we’ve faithfully watched each season fun to read her point of view.An excellent collection of essays for all who love tv.watching. #netgalley # random house.

"I Like to Watch" is a collection of lyrical, well argued essays written by The New Yorker’ s TV critic (and, as the cover notes, Pulitzer Prize winner), Emily Nussbaum. Like Nussbaum, I prefer TV to movies. i like how a story - and characters - can develop over multiple seasons, can change and morph into something new. That being said, I’m not a super fan - I don’t watch a whole lot of it. That didn’t hinder my enjoyment of this book, though. Even essays about shows I haven’t seen (e.g. True Detective) were fascinating - Nussbaum is a truly talented critic. I like how she wrestles with who deems culture to be “high” or “low,” as well as whether you are truly watching a show "wrong” if you’re not watching it how its creators intended. Her essay on #MeToo and “what [we should] do with the art of terrible men”, as she puts it, is excellent. (though since she is a self-professed Buffy lover (as am I), I did wish she’d also mentioned Joss Whedon and what you do when a bad man creates a strong role model for women.) Nussbaum grapples with her own culpability (she knew about the Louis CK story before it broke, although in fairness it was kind of an open secret), as well as how to move forward. I also loved her essay on Jessica Jones and Buffy’s sixth season (two of my favorite things), and how they both interrogate gaslighting, sexual violence, and resentful men, as well as her discussion of the bleakness of the Americans, and why it works. Thoughtful, engaging, and funny - highly recommended.

I really enjoy Emily Nussbaum's work, in general, so this was a pleasure to read. Her Pulitzer is well-deserved.

Most of these essays appeared originally elsewhere, so your mileage may vary, in terms of what you get out of this.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the digital ARC, in return for an honest review.