First aired in 1989, The Simpsons has become America's most beloved animated show. It changed the world of television, bringing to the screen a cartoon for adults, a sitcom without a laugh track, an imperfect lower class family, a mixture of high and low comedy and satire for the masses. This collection of new essays explores the many ways in which The Simpsons reflects everyday life through its exploration of gender roles, music, death, food politics, science and religion, anxiety, friendship and more.
A former president of the Margaret Atwood Society, Karma Waltonen is a senior lecturer in the University Writing Program at the University of California, Davis, where she won the Academic Federation Excellence in Teaching Award in 2015.
Denise Du Vernay has been teaching courses in composition, literature, The Simpsons, speech, and the humanities for more than ten years. She is a regular contributor to Matchflick.com and is currently working on her first novel. She lives near Chicago.