Migration and Mortality: Social Death, Dispossession, and Survival in the Americas

‘‘long, in-depth conversations’’ (p. 205). On the contrary, the many wonderful Star Trek podcasts, YouTube blogs, sub-reddits, the remarkable ‘‘Confessions of an Aca-fan’’ blog, many other blogs, and probably all social media, do contain astoundingly long and in-depth conversations about Star Trek, held among many fans, over time, and often over great distances. For those seeking insight into the social movement and collective consumer identities within the interaction of digital technology and Star Trek fandom—a huge domain of fan interaction and experience encompassing not only fan forums, social media groups, and vlogs, but also virtual conventions and virtual worlds like Star Trek Online—this book unfortunately does not offer much. I hesitate to recommend this book for any but the most focused and succinct classroom usage. The book often rockets back and forth in time without much rhyme or reason, the narrative linked mainly by the author’s fandom and the assumption that readers are interested in it. Much of the book’s research is descriptive rather than explanatory. Other verbata from other fans (most gathered through personal email, it would seem) are presented without interpretation. For Star Trek fans, especially those who love the original series, this book should be a joy and a lot of fun to read. It should also be a good way to learn a bit about sociology and social psychology theory, along with stories about the TV shows and fan conventions.