“Reality TV is important to understand, not only because of what it can tell us about our lives but because of what it does to us. The experience of watching these shows, like looking in any mirror, is interactive. We see ourselves, and then we groom ourselves accordingly.”

I’ve had a love-hate relationship with reality TV through the years. I’ve started enjoying it more recently, and been intrigued by the people and show concepts. When I heard about True Story, I knew I wanted to read it because it combines my love of Sociology with my interest in the reality genre 😁

Mainly focuses on reality shows from the US. Really interesting look at various reality shows, highlighting both the positive and negative aspects. Some of the shows talked about include The Bachelor/Bachelorette, Real Housewives, Toddlers & Tiaras, Cops, Survivor, and Real World.

Each chapter focuses on a sociological theme or principle that reality TV illuminates: the self, couples, groups, families, childhood, class, race, gender, sexuality, and deviance. As someone who studied Sociology, I enjoyed seeing the theories I learned about in school being applied to this form of media!

A lot of us, whether we watch reality TV or not, may view the genre as a “guilty pleasure” since we don’t “get” anything from these shows. I liked that the author pointed out that the same is true of professional sports: “[they] don’t have intellectual value either, and we don’t regularly refer to them as ‘guilty pleasures.’ There are other potential reasons for our disdain for reality TV: because, unlike sports, it’s a genre associated more with female viewership than male and we tend to devalue cultural products geared toward women.”

It could be slow and overwhelming at times, but I found that it was much more interesting/attention grabbing when I read it while I was in the right headspace!

True Story is a sociological look into the world of reality television and what it can tell us about human behavior and society. Author Danielle J. Lindemann looks to modern reality TV without feelings of “guilty pleasure” and is able to artfully make the argument that the medium is more meaningful than critics and naysayers let on. While I didn’t find much in the book particularly revelatory, I appreciated Lindemann’s approach and respect her scholarly research. Don’t go into this book thinking you’re going to get a history lesson on reality television, a point that Lindemann herself is quick to note at the start of the book. If you’re interested in the psychology of reality tv stars and what American viewing habits say about society, then you’ll certainly enjoy True Story.

As a consumer of reality tv with many conflicted feelings about the genre, I loved Lindemann's in depth analysis of what reality tv says about our culture and helps shape it in turn. Sometimes, her logic gets hard to follow and certain points I just didn't think were made very clearly, but for the most part, it's a fascinating and thought provoking read.

I’m unashamed to admit that I love reality TV. The Bachelor? Appointment viewing. The Masked Singer? The highlight of my week. Love Island? A true study of human psychology.

The genre gets a bad reputation but it has had a real and significant impact on culture and society which is exactly what Danielle J. Lindemann breaks down in TRUE STORY: WHAT REALITY TV SAYS ABOUT US.

This is not a look at the history of the genre or about specific shows, but rather how society has impacted reality TV and vice versa. Lindemann is incredibly well-versed on the topic and offers an in-depth look at how society’s feelings about gender, race, and sexuality have impacted the kinds of shows that are produced, and how the consumption of those shows impacts our views on those subjects in turn.

This book is not a light and quick read. It values content more than style and feels like a textbook you’d read in a media studies course. I definitely learned a lot though.

The Bottom Line: An academic look at the sociological impact of reality TV that will give you a lot of talking points for your next dinner party. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the eARC!

A great sociological analysis of reality TV. This book would be perfect for students or casual readers wanting to learn more about how reality TV informs cultural practices, with an emphasis on race, gender and class.

Interesting book on reality television and how it influences/has influenced people. Racism, sexuality & other things like not conforming to stereotypes are discussed with plenty of examples. I have no background in sociology, I just like to watch "easy entertainment" like The Hills or other reality TV shows sometimes. A background is not needed, the book is clear, easy to read and entertaining. I learned something from this book about why watching reality TV is so attractive to people, but can also be a source of the spread of hate and misinformation.

What a fantastic meditation on the various sociological windows we can view reality TV through. This does a great job of breaking down the many lenses of sociology and reality TV (what do we use it to say about class? gender? sexuality?), as well as how these combine. The breadth of shows used is great, and made me realize how different styles of show can be used to sell the same message.

This easily could have been super dry and academic (and wouldn't have been a worse book for that!), but that it's both this deep and thoughtful AND highly readable is fantastic. I opened this expecting to really need to chew my way through it but devoured it easily instead.

Lots of the series Danielle J. Lindemann describes or comments on, can't be seen in Germany, and actually I am not a Real TV fan, anyway. But I do love series, and I am always curious, so in spite of not knowing many of the programs she comments on, I enjoyed the read. Quite diligent work, and certainly informative for all TV lovers.

I am a recent convert to reality TV, and this book was a fascinating dive into why exactly I find it so fascinating. I particularly appreciated how much Dr. Lindemann used actual examples from shows, breaking down interactions into parts. It was a quick, digestible read.

True Stories, What Reality TV Says About Us takes a deep dive into one of the least respected genres of television from a sociologist’s point of view. Basing her research off of reality shows based in the United States, Lindemann provides a well researched and personal account of her love of these types of shows for the entertainment and stress free viewing they provide, in particular during Covid, but also sources various sociologists throughout to help the reader realize that what we are viewing is really a reflection of our society. The book breaks down all the ways in which stereotypes from getting married, gender, race, class, etc. on these shows with “real” people mirror our own views as a collective. Though many of us like to think we’re better than reality TV, Trump as president is used as a cautionary reminder that we should be paying more attention that we have before; the medium holds a lot of power. Overall I learned from this book and it did make me think about the way I have been consuming these types of shows.

As someone who is fairly well-versed in concepts of psychology, but not so much in sociology, this was a very interesting read and I didn’t feel confused or off-put by any terms I may have never heard of. As someone who isn’t a fan of reality tv I loved this book for helping give me more reason not to watch it from a scientific perspective :P

📒 summary + notes
Reality TV is one of the most representative examples of popular culture; it is spread worldwide and covers tons of subjects and kinds of people. This is why it makes it such a good subject to analyze and study. I never thought I could learn from reality TV. When one doesn't watch this kind of show, they can feel a little out of it, or beyond it. Yet, this is redhibitory and this book is accessible and enjoyable to everyone that has an interest in society, not necessarily in reality TV.

🚀 the book in 3 sentences
1. Turning something as common as reality TV into a subject of reflection.
2. Realizing that we are so predictable.
3. reality TV doesn't represent only a part of the population, but our whole society.

🎨 impressions
I was really skeptical about this book, as I am not really a reality TV person. moreover, I'm French and I don't have this whole American TV culture. Nonetheless, it did not prevent me from understanding everything and applying the US examples to French ones.

who should read it?
Everyone who is a little bit interested in the way our society works, in human relationships and behaviors.

☘️ how the book changed me
- It is enlightening because we all think we are different and don't act like the group, but well, we don't. Our global path is already defined and thinking out of it is hard.
- The book did not convince me to watch more TV shows, nor to avoid them. The author simply studied them, without expressively judging them; I liked this approach of not considering something as good or bad but simply taking it for what it is and learning from it.

✍️ my top 3 quotes
- "While that may seem an extreme or outdated example, today too, we have separate boys' and girls' bathrooms, even for elementary school students - a practice that arguably stems from anxiety about (heterosexual) sexuality. In the US, we cover up little girls' torsos at the beach, even though they don't have breasts. While many of these tactics to protect children from sex presume heterosexuality - further evidence of our heteronormativity - parents try to shield their children from homosexuality as well. Consider, for instance, the father who will not let his son play with a kitchen set or take ballet class, for fear of "turning him gay" ".
- "These distinctions matter, Bourdieu argues, because taste then becomes a signifier of social status and a form of the shared culture that helps to coalesce those within the same class. Elite tastes become a form of capital that facilitates the transmission of social status from one generation to another, thus maintaining the class culture. Consequently, certain tastes are connected with certain class positions, and a hierarchy is created"

Special thanks to Netgalley and [Farrar, Straus, and Giroux](https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/pub...) for sharing a copy of this book with me in exchange for an honest review.

This would make a great introductory sociology text as the author does a great job introducing foundational concepts and thinkers through the lens of reality TV. As a standalone read, though, it wasn't especially engaging or nuanced in its analysis. A fun read, but not necessarily an intellectually stimulating one.

this was a really interesting read, I appreciated the psychological questions the book raised and was invested from start to finish.

This book was so interesting to read as it is a deep sociological dive into reality tv! Sociology + TV = sign me up! I thought the author did such a great job balancing information with examples. There are also so many sociological themes - including the self, couples, groups, families and childhoods AND the book covers class, race, gender, sexuality, and deviance. Overall, I would highly recommend if you are interested in learning more about how reality TV reflects society.

4.5 rounded up

Thank you to the author, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and NetGalley for providing an early copy to review!

"True Story" by Danielle Lindemann is a history of reality television in America and how it is a reflection of and a guiding force in our everyday lives. At the most basic level, conflict sells, and much of reality television is about putting together people with different points of views and life experiences. This is often times accompanied by a lot of alcohol to ramp up conflict. To me, what this book really focuses on though, is though is how what is selected and who is chosen to be featured in reality tv shows are those people who most glaringly reflect societal norms and history. As Lindemann points out, very few reality shows feature Black, queer, indigenous, or Asian characters, which is based on the industry's idea of who viewers want to fill the screen of coveted prime time spots. Also, viewers are also drawn to watch people whose lives are very different than their own, and who are portrayed as obscene or obsessive, ex. "Honey Boo Boo", "Toddlers & Tiaras", or intervention shows. I really loved this book for its novel way of discussing American society and history and definitely recommend it.

Remember in the 2000's when 'hit tv show and philosophy' was a whole series of books that made philosophical and epistemological thought accessible to a whole new cohort of people?

This book feels a decade too late to ride that train, but it is likely to appease the introduction to sociology students for a few years. It's very well researched and impeccably written. I just think it's a shame it's a bit out of time!!

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle by Farrar, Straus and Giroux and #NetGalley for my honest opinion.

As a long standing fan of reality tv this was ax interesting read.

As a fan of reality television Bachelor and Amazing Race franchises, I was interested in this book. True Story is a sociological deep dive into the history of reality television-from the 1950s to the first season of Survivor which kicked off reality television as we know it today. The author spends a great deal of time detailing how reality television influences our lives and world views in almost undetectable ways. I found it all very interesting, particularly the second chapter which focused on The Bachelor. There are many, many examples of every concept. I’d recommend to anyone who ever found themselves sitting in the couch watching a reality show and thought, “Why am I enjoying this so much?” Thanks to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

Well written very revealing look into the world of reality tv. A sociological study of how society is effected by these shows and apps like Instagram.I really enjoyed the book and will be recommending,#netgalley#fsg