Survivor and the Endless Gaze

Sallie Tisdale

• Publisher: Gallery Books
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781982175894
• eBook ISBN:
  9781982175917
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Television History & Criticism

The author of the acclaimed Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them) brings “her singular sensibility, her genius for language, her love of our deeply imperfect world” (Karen Karbo, author of In Praise of Difficult Women) to this insightful exploration of reality TV and the shifting definitions of truth in America.

What is the truth?

In a world of fake news and rampant conspiracy theories, the nature of truth has increasingly blurry borders. In this clever and timely cultural commentary, award-winning author Sallie Tisdale tackles this issue by framing it in a familiar way—reality TV, particularly the long-running CBS show Survivor.

With humor and in-depth superfan analysis, Tisdale explores the distinction between suspended disbelief and true authenticity both in how we watch shows like Survivor, and in how we perceive the world around us. With her “bold and wise, galvanizing and grounding” (Chloe Caldwell, author of I’ll Tell You in Person) writing, Tisdale has created an unputdownable, thoroughly entertaining, and groundbreaking book that we will be talking about for years to come.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• This Isn’t Welfare
• Perception Is Reality
• Working Backwards
• Evolution
• Fans and Scholars. Mostly Fans.
• That’s Not How You Play the Game
• The Host
• Losers (or, The Thinking Seat)
• Hunger
• Mirrors, Cameras, Binge-Watching, and Making a Scene
• Hell Is Other People
• Bosses and Little Old Ladies
• Sex
• Race
• The Terrifying Natives
• Swearing, Loyalty, Betrayal, and a Lie About a Truck
• Winners (or, This Is the Part Where I Outwit You)
• Jury Management
• The Biggest Villain, the Worst Person, and the Best Player Ever
• Transformation, Celebrity, and a Very Special Moment
• Resources
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Copyright