Popular stories and promised lands

the long version

Popular Stories and Promised Lands enters a conversation about who we are, where we've been, and where we might be going by suggesting that possible answers to those questions can be found in the popular stories we encounter at the movies, on television, in popular magazines, and even on the funny pages. Using the numerous stories we encounter every day as resources, we imaginatively experience our own "places that matter." Fans of the comic strip Dilbert visit Nerdvana, the place where common sense reigns. Fans of the television series The X-Files return to the Funhouse each week for a dose of frightening fun. Fans of the weekly magazine Sports Illustrated play in the American Elysian Fields where democratic efforts at balancing work and play are valued. Fans of the movie Field of Dreams work as altruistic producers in an alternative garden spot. Grounded in the author's own experience as a culturally displaced American, and reinforced by the voices of approximately 200 additional fans of the four popular stories, this book makes a compelling case for understanding the alleged vast waste-land of popular culture as a fertile site of individually and communally created "sacred places." Through popular stories, fans can imaginatively experience symbolic pilgrimages to new promised lands that offer a sense of centeredness, spirituality, and creativity.