{"product_id":"second-lives-by-michael-szalay-9780226824802","title":"Second Lives","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA history of prestige television through the rise of the “black-market melodrama.”\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eSecond Lives\u003c\/i\u003e, Michael Szalay defines a new television genre that has driven the breathtaking ascent of TV as a cultural force over the last two decades: the black-market melodrama. Exemplified by the likes of \u003ci\u003eThe Sopranos\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBreaking Bad\u003c\/i\u003e, the genre moves between a family’s everyday life and its secret second life, which may involve illegal business, espionage, or even an alternate reality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSecond lives allow characters (and audiences) to escape what feels like endless work into a revanchist vision of the white middle class family. However, there is for this grimly resigned genre no meaningful way back to the Fordist family wage for which it longs. In fact, Szalay argues, black-market melodramas lament the very economic transformations that untethered TV viewing from the daily rhythms of the nine-to-five job and led, ultimately, to prestige TV.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47471520284908,"sku":"9780226824802","price":61.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780226824802-second-lives.jpg?v=1775245622","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/second-lives-by-michael-szalay-9780226824802","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}