American Ideal: How American Idol Constructs Celebrity, Collective Identity, and American Discourses by Amanda Scheiner McClain provides an insightful analysis of the popular television show American Idol and explores contemporary notions of celebrity, American collective identity, and other American themes. American Idol depicts how a new star is constructed, supports American ideals such as individualism and archetypes, and reinforces an idealized American identity through verbal and visual discourse. The monstrous popularity of American Idol demands study of the program and the ideals...