****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Duffett's book is a much needed addition to the field of fan studies. It provides a thorough examination of the field and does not shy away from the messy and conflicting material and theories that underpin much of fandom studies. His writing is clear and not too heady, but certainly suited to the academic realm.What makes this introduction so useful to the field is that it is far-reaching, combining multiple fandoms (with a stronger emphasis on televisual, music, and celebrity than others) in his examination, and also confronting many of the hot topics in the field (gender studies, online/offline practices, fan stereotypes). This book is clearly designed to be used in a media studies classroom, with opening questions and epigraphs for each chapter, a thorough glossary, and expansive reference list. In a particular bonus, he gives a nice overview of research in the field, examining the possibilities and restrictions of different research methods. This kind of approach to the text makes it highly adaptable to other areas/disciplines as a thematic approach to classes in sociology, anthropology, communication, and more. As a composition instructor, I have found it useful in my own classes to provide students with applications for examining literacy, genre, and research practices through a fandom studies lens.While I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who doesn't want to dive into complexity of fandoms, I found this book an important addition to the field, presented in an engaging and critical way. Duffett neither patronizes his readers by dumbing down the material nor alienates them by obscuring his prose in academese.
