Extraordinarily ordinary : Us weekly and the rise of reality television celebrity

__Extraordinarily Ordinary__offers a critical analysis of the production of a distinct form of twenty-first century celebrity constructed through the exploding coverage of reality television cast members in __Us Weekly__ magazine. Erin A. Meyers connects the economic and industrial forces that helped propel__Us Weekly__to the top of the celebrity gossip market in the early 2000s with the ways in which reality television cast members fit neatly into the social and cultural norms that shaped the successful gossip formulas of the magazine.__Us Weekly__’s construction of the “extraordinarily ordinary” celebrity within its gossip narratives is a significant symptom of the broader intensification of discourses of ordinariness and the private in the production of contemporary celebrity, in which fame is paradoxically grounded in “just being yourself” while simultaneously defining what the “right” sort of self is in contemporary culture. 2021 winner of Non-fiction popular category: New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance The Mullica Valley estuary and its watershed, formed over the last 10,000 years, are among the cleanest estuaries along the east coast of the United States. This 365,000-acre ecosystem benefits from a combination of protected watershed, low human population density, and general lack of extensive development. In Beneath the Surface, marine scientist Ken Able helps the reader penetrate the surface and gain insights into the kinds of habitats, animals, and plants that live there. Readers will gain a better understanding of the importance of these shallow waters; how the amount of salt in the water determines where animals and plants are found in estuaries; the day-night, seasonal, and annual variation in their occurrence; and how change is occurring as the result of climate variation. Throughout the book are insightful sidebars telling intimate stories of where various animals came from and where they are going as they travel through the estuary on their way to and from other portions of the east coast. Beneath the Surface emphasizes the kinds and importance of the animals and plants that live beneath the surface of this unique ecosystem. Extraordinarily Ordinary offers a critical analysis of the production of a distinct form of twenty-first century celebrity constructed through the exploding coverage of reality television cast members in Us Weekly magazine. Erin A. Meyers connects the economic and industrial forces that helped propel Us Weekly to the top of the celebrity gossip market in the early 2000s with the ways in which reality television cast members fit neatly into the social and cultural norms that shaped the successful gossip formulas of the magazine. Us Weekly 's construction of the "extraordinarily ordinary" celebrity within its gossip narratives is a significant symptom of the broader intensification of discourses of ordinariness and the private in the production of contemporary celebrity, in which fame is paradoxically grounded in "just being yourself" while simultaneously defining what the "right" sort of self is in contemporary culture. "Extraordinarily Ordinary offers a critical analysis of the production of a distinct form of twenty-first century celebrity constructed through the exploding coverage of reality television cast members in Us Weekly magazine, unpacking the ways in which the magazine helped promote a broader intensification of discourses of ordinariness or "just being yourself" in the production of contemporary celebrity"-- Provided by publisher The Ordinary and the Extraordinary: Unpacking the Celebrity Image -- The Labor of Ordinariness: Famous for "Being Yourself" -- Celebrity Lifestyle Labor: Making the Ordinary Extraordinary -- Lauren Conrad: Us Weekly and the Extraordinarily Ordinary Celebrity -- Conclusion: The Future of the Extraordinarily Ordinary Celebrity