Beautiful Things in Popular Culture

This is an innovative book that addresses the question of how consumers make decisions about what is good and what is bad in popular culture. An entertaining and informative guide to the range of aesthetic criteria that goes into judging mass culture's most celebrated texts and objects - from Batman to motor bikes, and pop stars to internet pornographyBrings together a series of accessible and engaging essays written by connoisseurs of various areas of popular cultureTackles the core question of how consumers make decisions about what is good popular culture and what is bad popular cultureOffers an entertaining and educative read for academic readers as well as purveyors of culture; moving beyond a 'greatest hits' list of popular culture to debate broader issues.

Alan McKee is Associate Professor of Creative Industries at Queensland University of Technology. He is the author of Textual Analysis: A Beginner’s Guide (2003) and The Public Sphere: An Introduction (2005).