Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV BY Emily Nussbaum

"Cue the Sun!" is an ambitious cultural history of America's most influential and divisive artistic phenomenon: reality television. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning New Yorker writer Emily Nussbaum, this revelatory account delves into the rise of "dirty documentary"—from its contentious radio roots to its domination of modern pop culture and politics.

Nussbaum combines a storyteller's verve, a journalist's skepticism, a critic's sharpness, and a fan's passion to explore the morally charged, funny, and sometimes tragic consequences of the hunt for something real within something fake. She unearths the origin story of reality TV through the vibrant voices of the pioneers who built it, tracing the genre's experimental roots that culminated in the explosive success of "Survivor" at the turn of the millennium.

Meet the trickster pioneers: from Allen Funt’s icy pranks to Chuck Barris’s chaotic games; "Cops" auteur John Langley; cynical "Bachelor" ringmaster Mike Fleiss; and "The Real World" visionaries Jon Murray and Mary-Ellis Bunim. Through dozens of stars from "An American Family," "The Real World," "Big Brother," "Survivor," and "The Bachelor," Nussbaum reveals the genre’s deceptive editing tricks, like the infamous Frankenbite, and ugly tales of exploitation. Yet, she also celebrates reality TV’s peculiar power to deliver unscripted jolts of genuine emotion.

Discover the fate of the first reality stars, the Louds, and why they refuse to speak to the filmmakers who chronicled their lives. Learn which serial killer won on "The Dating Game," the queer roots of Bravo, and the dark truth behind "The Apprentice." Nussbaum’s sharp observations and deep love for television make her the perfect guide for this first substantive history of the genre that, for better or worse, shaped America into what it is today.