Worlds Without End: The Art and History of the Soap Opera

This heavily illustrated volume features behind-the-scenes production shots and cast photos from current popular soaps alongside cult and long-running serials from the past. A specially created "family tree' of soap creators and their shows and interviews with leading writers, producers, actors, and directors further illuminate the birth and growth of this television staple. 140 illustrations, 60 in color.

Published as a companion to an exhibition at the Museum of Television and Radio's New York and Los Angeles sites, this very serious anthology attempts to explain the qualities that have given soap operas such longevity and persistent popularity. Simon's essay ``Serial Seduction'' offers a thumbnail history of the genre, tracing its form and contents back to the genius of Irna Phillips, who in 1930 launched her first of many soaps (among them the longest-running soap, The Guiding Light, which premiered on radio in 1937). Louise Spence, in ``Watching Daytime Soap Operas,'' and Jane Feuer, in ``Different Soaps for Different Folks,'' plumb the genre's hold on its considerable audience. And, for comic relief, three pieces by James Thurber, skewering the form's pretensions and singular strangeness, are included. A brief review of the major soaps concludes the volume. A browsable account of a ubiquitous but insufficiently studied part of modern American culture--one that Thurber labeled ``the story-coated advertising medium that either fascinates or distresses so many millions of people.'' (140 illustrations, 60 in color) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Published to coincide with an exhibit at the Museum of Radio and Television, this oversize, heavily illustrated volume surveys soaps from their birth on radio to their television incarnation and tries to explain their continued popularity. To this end, four scholars who study soaps (oxymoronic as that might seem) take a look at who watches and why. Soap lovers may have a laugh at the sometimes heavy-handed analysis; more fun is the individual looks at all the television soaps (dead and alive) and the terrific pictures that will bring back memories for devoted fans. Ilene Cooper