I enjoyed Emily Nussbaum’s Cue the Sun! as a bit of summer fluff. It could have been a much more academic work and was occasionally frustrating in missing some low-hanging fruit. What was going on with the viewing public when the shows discussed were being made? How did the reality genre dovetail or not with predominant societal trends? 9/11 gets a treatment, but there could have been lots more without putting too much a serious spin on an enjoyable and breezy read. Nussbaum doesn’t weigh in on whether reality TV is the downfall of society or not, but she takes a very blunt approach to her descriptions of what participation seems to have meant for some of the participants – not always pretty. Whether a fan or the genre or not, this was a fun behind-the-scenes look at some iconic shows and television moments that makes for a perfect summer non-fiction read. 4/5