Description: How popular media cultivates genealogy but buries its cultural context
Brief description: Christine Scodari is professor at Florida Atlantic University and author of Serial Monogamy: Soap Opera, Lifespan, and the Gendered Politics of Fantasy. She has published many articles, including an award winner on genealogy television in the Journal of American Culture and a chapter in the edited volume Aging, Media, and Culture.
Review Quotes: People have always been interested in who they are and where they come from, and thus genealogical study holds great fascination. In her short and remarkable book, Christine Scodari places the historic journey of her own Italian family into a larger context, shedding light on genealogical theory; personal, social, and immigration history; religious practices; and gender, class, and race issues. She also unlocks the secrets behind the popularity of celebrity genealogy shows and explores ways in which the social hierarchies that begin in one's own family reflect past generations as well as modern times. Her book will appeal to anyone wanting to better understand connections between family and culture.--Kathy Merlock Jackson, editor of Walt Disney: Conversations and the Journal of American Culture and vice president/president-elect of the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association