"A masterful, intensely suspenseful novel about a reader whose obsession with a reclusive writer goes far too far--a book about the power of storytelling, starring the same trio of unlikely and winning heroes King introduced in Mr. Mercedes" -- ""Wake up, genius." So begins King's instantly riveting story about a vengeful reader. The genius is John Rothstein, an iconic author who created a famous character, Jimmy Gold, but who hasn't published a...

"Akari is a high school junior obsessed with "oshi" Masaki Ueno, a member of the popular J-Pop group Maza Maza. She writes a blog devoted to him, and spends hours addictively scrolling for information about him and his life. Desperate to analyze and understand him, Akari hopes to eventually see the world through his eyes. It is a devotion that borders on the religious: Masaki is her savior, her backbone, someone she believes she cannot survive without-even...

In the midst of his crumbling relationship, a radio show host begins speaking to his biggest fan, a young boy, via the telephone. But when questions of the boy's identity comes up, the host's life is thrown into chaos.

In this debut novel we follow actress Valerie Torrey - who took her son Alex and fled Los Angeles, leaving her husband after a spectacular tragedy blew their small family apart. Six years later, Val must reunite 9-year-old Alex with his estranged father, so they set out on a road trip from New York. For Alex, this world is a magical place where fiction becomes reality, but as they get closer to their destination, he begins to realize that the story...

"Once golf's fastest rising star, Wells Whitaker's career craters before his eyes, despite the ongoing support of a beautiful redhead who always cheers him on from the sidelines, who he eventually invites to be his new caddy"-- "Wells Whitaker was once golf’s hottest rising star, but lately, all he has to show for his “promising” career is a killer hangover, a collection of broken clubs, and one remaining supporter. No matter how bad he plays,...

"Marcus Caster-Rupp has a secret. The world may know him as Aeneas, star of the biggest show on television, but fanfiction readers call him something else: Book!AeneasWouldNever. Marcus gets out his frustrations with the show through anonymous stories about the internet's favorite couple, Aeneas and Lavinia. But if anyone discovered his online persona, he'd be finished in Hollywood. April Whittier has secrets of her own. A hardcore Lavinia fan, she's...

"In the vein of You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) and Black Nerd Problems, this witty, incisive essay collection from New York Times critic at large Maya Phillips explores race, religion, sexuality, and more through the lens of her favorite pop culture fandoms. From the moment Maya Phillips saw the opening scroll of Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, her childhood changed forever. Her formative years were spent loving not just...

As fandom sheds its longtime stigmas of geekiness and hysteria, fans are demanding more from the celebrities and brands they love. Digital tools have given all organizations? From traditional businesses to tech startups? Direct, real-time access to their most devoted consumers, and it's easy to forget that this access flows both ways. This is the new "fandom-based economy": a convergence of brand owner and brand consumer. Fan pressures hold more clout...

The author of Welcome to the New World and Bad Paper discusses America's obsession with celebrity in this 2007 investigation. Why do more people watch American Idol than the nightly news? What is it about Paris Hilton's dating life that lures us so? Why do teenage girls-when given the option of "pressing a magic button and becoming either stronger, smarter, famous, or more beautiful" -predominantly opt for fame? In this entertaining and enlightening...

Have you ever created art based on a TV show or game? Dressed up as your favorite character? If so, you've entered fandom. Tour fandom's history and meet creators who shape fan communities online and in real life.