The Bizarre World of Reality Television. Edited by Stuart Lenig. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2017. 332 pages. $89 (ISBN 978-1-4408-3854-5). Ebook Available (978-1-4408-3588-2), call for pricing.

The Bizarre World of Reality Television explores the origins, rapid progression, and quirky contents of reality television programming. Written by Stuart Lenig (Columbia State Community College), this unique and compact work is an entertaining read that dissects reality television through a post-modernistic lens, detailing the economic, cultural, and social factors.

The work chronicles more than 100 important reality television shows from the medium’s early beginnings with An American Family, Star Search, and That’s Incredible! to current and long-running shows such as The Bachelor and American Idol. Television personalities such as Anthony Bourdain and Bethenny Frankel, as well as significant television channels (HGTV and TLC) are also highlighted. The scope of the book is somewhat limited and it is not intended to provide comprehensive coverage of reality television. Still, it fills a hole in reference sources that delve into this aspect of media.

Lenig organizes the entries across five chapters and begins each chapter with an introductory essay that provides background analysis for each type of reality television program examined. The chapters cover self-improvement and home transformation shows; competition and talent shows; personal lives; dating and matchmaking shows; and international reality television programs. Each entry provides a program history and synopsis, reasons for the show’s popularity, cross-references, and a further readings bibliography. Lenig ends the book with a concluding essay about the future of reality television, bibliography, and a useful index.

Bizarre World is recommended for public libraries and academic libraries with programs in popular culture, media studies, and sociology.—Colleen Lougen, Serials and Electronic Resources Librarian, SUNY New Paltz