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Saturday Night Live: Shaping TV Comedy and American Culture
Saturday Night Live: Shaping TV Comedy and American Culture
Reviewed by: Kara Reiman - Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook, Southern Maine Library District
Review Date: August 25, 2015
Review
Humor and nonfiction writer Kaplan has combined both here to create a brief history of Saturday Night Live and its effect on comedy and American culture. The book discusses the effect SNL has had on presidential elections (Palin and Ford, significantly) and how it has handled culture issues such as diversity and women. Kaplan also discusses the show's biggest stars and how they affected the show. The book jumps around in time and subject, making it hard to follow. It's also not clear who exactly the intended audience is. A student doing a study on the show would need much more in-depth information, and someone reading out of pure interest would likely not be interested in these specific topics. Back matter includes an index, photo acknowledgements, a quiz, a list of Second City performers, a list of comedy writers, sources notes, a bibliography, and further info. This is not a first purchase for most libraries.
Overall Book Score: fair
About the Book
Author:
Kaplan, Arie
Illustrator: ,
Illustration Quality: good
Publisher: Twenty First Century Books
Book Type: chapter book nonfiction
Genre:
Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9
Binding Type: reinforced trade binding
Binding Quality: good
ISBN: 9781467710862
Price: 24.46