The emergence of "male-centered serials" such as The Shield, Rescue Me, and Sons Of Anarchy and the challenges these characters face in negotiating modern masculinities. From the meth-dealing but devoted family man Walter White of AMC’s Breaking Bad, to the part-time basketball coach, part-time gigolo Ray Drecker of HBO’s Hung, depictions of male characters perplexed by societal expectations of men and anxious about changing American masculinity have become standard across the television landscape. Engaging with a wide variety of shows, including The League, Dexter, and Nip/Tuck, among many others, Amanda D. Lotz identifies the gradual incorporation of second-wave feminism into prevailing gender norms as the catalyst for the contested masculinities on display in contemporary cable dramas. Examining the emergence of “male-centered serials” such as The Shield, Rescue Me, and Sons of Anarchy and the challenges these characters face in negotiating modern masculinities, Lotz analyzes how these shows combine feminist approaches to fatherhood and marriage with more traditional constructions of masculine identity that emphasize men’s role as providers. She explores the dynamics of close male friendships both in groups, as in Entourage and Men of a Certain Age, wherein characters test the boundaries between the homosocial and homosexual in their relationships with each other, and in the dyadic intimacy depicted in Boston Legal and Scrubs. Cable Guys provides a much needed look into the under-considered subject of how constructions of masculinity continue to evolve on television.

Chock-Full of Straight Talk About America. . . And Some Jokes, Too! Larry the Cable Guy on . . . NASCAR: It’s a lotta good old-fashioned fun started by a buncha moonshiners. Just seein’ all the ZZ Top–lookin’ folks drinkin’ beer, havin’ a good time, and not givin’ a darn is awesome. And that’s just the women! Dieting: I once went on the “liquid diet.” I was supposed to drink nothin’ but liquids for a week. But I got so drunk and sick of that Jim Beam and Coke, I’ll never drink it again. Why his catchphrase “git-r-done” is better than other catchphrases: Ya can’t be at a ball game with two outs in the ninth inning and yell to the pitcher “Bounty is the quicker picker-upper!!” It makes no sense. But you could yell “Git-r-done” and everyone would know what you meant. The red state–blue state divide: Is Dr. Seuss runnin’ the government? Larry’s mom on Larry’s book: “There’s really not much I can say here except for I apologize to everyone ahead of time for the crap you are about to read.” —Larry’s mom Also available as an eBook.

Growing up, author Dan Armstrong dreamed of becoming an FBI agent or a police officer. He hadn't considered working as a cable guy. He didn't know it was a profession. But when he was twenty years old, Armstrong began working for his local cable television company and hasn't looked back. In The Adventures of a Real-Life Cable Guy, Armstrong recounts his experiences with dozens of characters, stories gathered during his thirty-year career-from the hilarious and the horrifying to the happy and the heartbreaking. He's serviced a million-dollar mansion and a five-hundred dollar trailer on the same day. He's been in homes where the cats outnumbered the humans. He's saved a man's life. And he was the last to see someone alive. Praise for The Adventures of a Real-Life Cable Guy "It's always fun to read the insights into other worlds where we will never travel. Reading The Adventures of a Real-Life Cable Guy is a great collection of humorous and fun stories ..." -Ron White, Two-Time USA Memory Champion

From her horse farm in Nebraska, Cara Whitney--wife of Dan Whitney (aka "Larry the Cable Guy")--shares down-to-earth stories about how ordinary people can share their faith in extraordinary ways. In the midst of uncertain and sometimes frightening times, sharing God's love with others gives us hope and purpose. With her humorous and often touching stories--many featuring horses, cows, and rascally dogs--Cara Whitney delightfully reminds us that it's always a good time to share the love of Jesus with your neighbor. In Fields of Grace, Cara passes on lessons from her amazing animal teachers, such as . . . What a barnyard horse brawl shows us about how God uses us in our weaknesses How caring for baby calves teaches us the value of letting go Why a carriage-pulling pack horse motivates us to be our best selves How a dance class inspires us to embrace our identity in Christ What a floppy-eared dog tells us about loving our neighbor With Scripture verses, beautiful photography from the American heartland, and a ribbon marker for finding your place, Fields of Grace is a gorgeous gift for: Readers of Cara's previous book, Unbridled Faith Fans of Larry the Cable Guy Anyone fascinated by the "simpler life" of farming in rural America Animal lovers and photography lovers Spiritual seekers interested in a gentle approach to learning more about God These charming yet powerful stories encourage us to care for others as we grow in our own spiritual journeys. No matter what times we live in, the love of Christ can transform lives--and help each of us to draw closer to Him.

A revelatory journey inside the world of Fox News and Roger Ailes—the brash, sometimes combative network head who helped fuel the rise of Donald Trump NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A SHOWTIME LIMITED SERIES • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR When Rupert Murdoch enlisted Roger Ailes to launch a cable news network in 1996, American politics and media changed forever. With a remarkable level of detail and insight, Vanity Fair magazine reporter Gabriel Sherman puts Ailes’s unique genius on display, along with the outsize personalities—Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Megyn Kelly, Sarah Palin, Karl Rove, Glenn Beck, Mike Huckabee, Gretchen Carlson, Bill Shine, and others—who have helped Fox News play a defining role in the great social and political controversies of the past two decades. From the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal to the Bush-Gore recount, from the war in Iraq to the Tea Party attack on the Obama presidency, Roger Ailes developed an unrivaled power to sway the national agenda. Even more, he became the indispensable figure in conservative America and the man any Republican politician with presidential aspirations had to court. How did this man become the master strategist of our political landscape? In revelatory detail, Sherman chronicles the rise of Ailes, a frail kid from an Ohio factory town who, through sheer willpower, the flair of a showman, fierce corporate politicking, and a profound understanding of the priorities of middle America, built the most influential television news empire of our time. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with Fox News insiders past and present, Sherman documents Ailes’s tactical acuity as he battled the press, business rivals, and countless real and perceived enemies inside and outside Fox. Sherman takes us inside the morning meetings in which Ailes and other high-level executives strategized Fox’s presentation of the news to advance Ailes’s political agenda; provides behind-the-scenes details of Ailes’s crucial role as finder and shaper of talent, including his sometimes rocky relationships with Fox News stars such as O’Reilly, Hannity, and Carlson; and probes Ailes’s fraught partnership with his equally brash and mercurial boss, Rupert Murdoch. Roger Ailes’s life is a story worthy of Citizen Kane. Featuring an afterword about Ailes’s epic downfall during the extraordinary 2016 election, The Loudest Voice in the Room is an extraordinary feat of reportage with a compelling human drama at its heart.