POVERTY IN AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE. Ed. Wylie Lenz. McFarland, 2020. 274 pp. including index. $55.00 paper.

Abstract

Throughout a trim volume at 178 pages, Greven presents ample and useful chapter notes which include both extensive sourcing and compelling supplemental annotations, which will appeal to scholars in various disciplines including history, American studies, and media/communication, queer, and feminist studies. Early in the text, Greven notes that a central goal in this study is to take an apparently “lowbrow” popular text and treat it seriously in an attempt to reveal the multivalent meanings embedded in the series (9). In that effort, this book consistently fulfills its ambition. Michael McKenna Farmingdale State College Fordham University Michael McKenna teaches history at Farmingdale State College and Fordham University. His primary research interests are urban history, particularly New York City, and American popular culture, primarily television programming. He is the author of two books on the history of television: The ABC Movie of the Week: Big Movies for the Small Screen (2013) and Real People and the Rise of Reality Television (2015).