" The contributors show that watching make-over television or cooking from a celebrity chef's book are significant cultural practices, through which we work on our ideas about taste, status and identity. In opening up the complex processes which shape our taste and forge individual and collective identities, lifestyle media demand our serious attention, as well as our viewing, reading and listening pleasure."" Ordinary Lifestyles is essential reading for students in media and cultural studies courses, and for anyone intrigued by the influence of the media on our day-to-day lives."--BOOK JACKET.