The Lie About the Truck
Survivor, Reality TV, and the Endless Gaze
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- £11.99
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- £11.99
Publisher Description
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Essayist Tisdale (Violation) takes readers down an entertaining rabbit hole in this fascinating exploration of the enduring attraction and success of "the greatest social experiment on television." How has the award-winning reality TV show Survivor kept audiences rapt through 40 seasons over 20 years? The appeal, Tisdale asserts, lies in the way it both "partakes of base archetypes... and indulges a few impulses we like to imagine indulging." It's a competition, she writes, where everyone's included; as viewers, "we connive to keep the game going." Balancing her impressive knowledge with an unpretentious tone ("the fact that we produce so much crap is interesting"), Tisdale takes a subject that many are quick to "trash" and convincingly argues there's a lot more to it—just as in real life, players have to navigate their own feelings of alienation (when they're banned to "exile island"), develop leadership skills, and even overcome sexist stereotypes. What her sharp observations reveal is that parsing truth from perception is a fool's errand. Though the narratives may be "structured reality," there's nothing more authentic than fans' desire to believe "that anyone can do it, that maybe I could do it." This fascinating study will be like candy for fans of the show and pop culture enthusiasts alike.
