I have a tremendous interest in fandom and fan interests having been one of the early participants in fandom (mid-1970's). I've been interested in other books published by the University of Iowa that have been about fandom and fan interests, and those that I've read have been quite interesting. Unfortunately I can't say that about this particular volume.

First, let's start with the writing itself. It is pretty clear, to me at least, that this was written as a thesis. That doesn't necessarily make it 'bad' but in this case the presentation is incredibly dry and dispassionate. It is a critical look without any apparent desire ... which is strange because author Kristina Busse mentions being a part of fandom. You would never guess by the writing here. I attribute this to professors who want to see this sort of not-involved/observer writer.

We also get that classic school writing that has Busse starting each chapter telling us what we're about to read and then a conclusion telling us what we just read. And rather than footnotes or end notes we get a constant array of parentheses citing sources throughout the book.

I've read books like this before and without being an academic myself I've just never found this sort of writing particularly interesting.

The subtitle of this book is "Literary and Social Practices in Fan Fiction Communities." Okay, aside from sounding like a thesis paper, this is quite interesting to me. This is part of the reason I requested to read this book. Fan fiction and fandom can create a real community and I was curious how Busse would report on the social aspects, as well as the writing, of these fan communities.

But she doesn't.

Or, what I should say, is that she gets much more specific. I think that the bulk of this research paper is about the erotic fiction in fandom.

The book is sectioned into three parts. The first part is titled "Slash as Indentifactory Practices." For those who aren't familiar with the term, according to Wikipedia: "Slash fiction is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on interpersonal attraction and sexual relationships between fictional characters of the same sex."

The second section is titled "Canon, Context, and Consensus" which only touches on sex in the third of the three essays.

Part three is "Community and Its Discontents" which doesn't sound like it would discuss erotica, but the three essays are: "My life is a WIP on my LJ: Slashing the Slasher and the Reality of Celebrity and Internet Performances"; "Geek Hierarchies, Boundary Policing, and the Gendering of the Good Fan"; and "Fictional Consents and the Ethical Enjoyment of the Dark Desires".

I'm not opposed to a research book on the eros in fan fiction, but I sure would like to know that's what I'm about to read.

I will say that it's clear Busse is quite knowledgeable on the subject and has done a tremendous amount of research here and I'd like to see her write something that isn't meant to be graded.

Unfortunately, this book just didn't work on too many different levels.

Looking for a good book? Unless you're looking for a potential classroom textbook, <em>Framing Fan Fiction</em> by Kristina Busse is probably not going to hold much interest for the casual reader (or fan).

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, though Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Book received from NetGalley.

This is very much a published thesis. Some parts of it were hard to read due to the extreme academic formatting of it. Other parts were very interesting, and even though I have been a part of various fandoms since I was a pre-teen, I learned quite a bit of how others see us through what we're writing and reading. I liked how she put all things that happen in the community in the the good, fandom as family, the bad, character relationship fights, and the ugly, threats to actors and others members in the fandom if they don't agree with what's being written. She mainly focuses on the more popular shows and what is written about them. She does give a bit of history on fan fiction and how it started back in the day of the 'zine that were mailed out to fans monthly for a subscription fee. Be aware that multiple fetishes are mentioned in passing and some things written about to unknowingly cause a trigger.

Fanfiction is very frequently overlooked by "serious readers" and academic studies on it are scarce. This book comes to fill this gap in research, providing a very informative and detailed account of the community surrounding fanfiction and very aptly connecting it to literary theories, thus proving that the well-written pieces of fanfiction not only exist but can be academically studied as well. All in all, I believe this book is very important since it not only researches a topic which has been marginalised by most but also proves that academia doesn't have to be about boring and dry subjects that everyone is researching.

Fascinating Collection of Papers

As a fan involved in fandom and with many online friends who do the same, I found this collection of papers absolutely fascinating. I enjoyed the melding of academic literature and exemplary fanfic from a wide variety of styles and fandoms. Of course, some chapters appealed to me more than others – the middle section on Canon in particular, as well as chapter 9 on the Geek Hierarchy.

Given the ever-changing nature of fandom, it is unsurprising that some of the content feels a little dated, but the conclusions are still robust and applicable to modern times. The academic style of these papers did make them quite heavy reading, but no more so than any other academic paper. I would recommend these to anyone with more than a passing interest in fanfic, literature, media studies, or any combination or derivative of the above. Fanfic as a field is varied and interesting, and as diverse as this collection is, it makes clear there is still so much more to study.

I made it through the introduction of this book. This topic is wildly fascinating as I have just recently become active in fan culture. However, I had to abandon the book because the formatting made it painfully difficult to read.

This was so interesting! Belonging to the fan community and reading about it, seeing it from the other side effectively, was absolutely incredible.

Kristina Busse takes fanfiction and fans seriously, and concentrates on certain tropes within fanfiction and the involvement of gender and the understanding of the self through these tropes. She uses various different fandoms as examples and it felt like a thorough read. Some parts were quite dense and difficult to read, but overall it was really interesting.

There is a huge culture of fan fiction on the internet and this book gives it the credit it deserves. Yes there is some rubbish out there, but there is also some excellent writing and a way for many writers to hone their craft. Ms Busse has written a series of essays which treat the genre seriously and academically. There are some dense passages where I got a bit lost occasionally but there are many gems and the way the topics are handled is fresh and sent me off to explore. There can be no greater accolade for a book examining fan fiction, than it made me want to go and examine fan fiction.

I was given copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Kristina Busse has written a thoughtful and thought provoking book that takes fans and fan fiction seriously. While she concentrates on elements of sex, particularly slash fiction, the underlying ideas seemed true for all of fan fiction. I particularly appreciated her focus on community within fandoms. Her focus on gender was fascinating and gave me a lot to think about.
I enjoyed stretching my academic reading muscles with this book. It is a worthwhile read for people who are fans or interested in fandom and fan fiction.