I was disappointed by this book. I found the writing to be dry and repetitive. On the heels of “Cue the Sun!” which was published less than a year ago, I just feel that this book doesn’t really have a place in Survivor discourse, unfortunately. As a Survivor superfan and avid consumer of reality TV and its commentary, I realize that there is less “stuff” I don’t know or haven’t considered compared to the average reader. But who is going to read this but a Survivor superfan? They, like me, are bound to be disappointed. I learned almost nothing new from this book and I was not surprised when I went through the endnotes and noted how little original source material was cited.

I would be remiss if I didn’t note some positives. I loved the absurdity of trying to explain the Wandoff to someone who has never heard it. I miss the weekly Wandoffs and it really warmed my heart to reminisce about such a funny time in the history of Survivor commentary. I think the latter half of the book had some interesting discussions about cultural evolutions as well.

Thank you to Netgalley and Rowman & Littlefield for the advanced copy.

As an avid Survivor fan, this was such a great trip down memory late - especially with Survivor 50 coming up. It discusses so much of what makes the show unique and how it's changed over the years. Would recommend for any Survivor fan.

Super interesting and takes an academic tone which was interesting! The cover art needs to be better if it’s going to be a gift for others or a coffee table book.

Rowman and Littlefield provided an early galley for review.

This is the third book I have read in the A Cultural History franchise, so I was familiar with their approach to analyzing shows. My enjoyment of Survivor goes back to some of the very first. I left and returned a couple times over the decades, but when I watched I found the show to be highly entertaining as well as enlightening about human behavior.

Having not watched every season and thus not a deep analyzer of the show, I really got into the presentation by the Darowskis. I found their level of coverage to be a solid overview of the show with plenty of details peppered throughout.

Since this is part of the A Cultural History franchise, I appreciate the look at how the show has changed over the past several decades in ways that mirror too how society has changed. As noted, viewing earlier seasons with the most modern outlooks will show some bumps and warts. It is no different than when I view films and TV shows I grew up on and loved from the 70's and 80's with a modern lens; some things simply would get a lot of push-back were they attempted to be made in 2025. That's what makes books like this important to have around. It documents the show's history with a place for discussion and reflection.

As a Survivor fan, of course I loved reading a book about Survivor; however, it read more as a research paper. Personally, I’m not quite sure who the audience of the book is. Someone not interested in Survivor wouldn’t find it very compelling, and as someone who has watched and casually interacts with Survivor media, I didn’t find it presented much new information or came to any new conclusions. I think it’s a useful book if you need to reference something for a breakdown of Survivor, whether within each episode or the show as a whole over time, and found it extremely descriptive in that sense. Besides that, it wasn’t particularly compelling and I wish there was either more first hand accounts ( like new interviews between the authors and contestants) or more analysis instead of just a compiling of Survivor information that is already out there and pretty accessible.

Thank you to Rowman & Littlefield for the ARC!

This was fine. I really love Survivor, so I found it entertaining, but it could have gone significantly more in depth. The last chapter of the book really touched the surface of what could have been a much deeper and more expansive analysis. You're likely not going to pick this book up unless you're already a Survivor fan, and this book spends so much time explaining Survivor that it just doesn't really make that much sense. Eh.

Thank you to Rowman and Littlefield for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is a must read for Survivor superfans. It is a deep dive into the history of the franchise with well researched commentary on all aspects of the show, including behind the scenes of production and the online communities that are devoted to analysis. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others as well.

When it comes to Survivor, I call myself an "intense casual fan" which I define as my habit of watching Survivor once or twice a year...but when I do, it's multiple seasons back-to-back in a very short timespan. It consumes me: googling the players, pouring through old reddit threads, all of it.

This book is loaded with lots of fun and interesting information. I had a blast reading through all of it and didn't even care that I was reading spoilers for seasons I haven't watched yet. In fact, this book made me more excited to watch them.

Was iffy on the organization a few times, and wasn't sure if certain topics being analyzed belonged in the section it was placed. But tangents can spice up how something can be read, and for the most part, I think they did here.

Thank you to the publisher and NG!

Great pairing of format with subject matter. Survivor lends itself to gameplay analysis for die-hard fans and cultural impact for sociology/anthropology.

I am a lifelong survivor fan but this was so dry, boring and offered no new information or behind the scenes