title: Using the Force: Creativity, Community and Star Wars Fans (Updated Edition)
author:  Will Brooker 
description: "This is a wonderful book. Will Brooker provides a wealth of badly-needed evidence, which will be of great use to anyone interested in ongoing debates about the relation between cultural production and consumption, the place of media in identity formation, and the ways in which meanings are produced from texts. The book is intelligent and informed, and is supremely careful only to make claims which are supported by the evidence it presents. It shows that it is not only possible, but vitally important, for academics to have a detailed knowledge of the texts and communities they are writing about, if they are to provide reasonable analyses of the ways in which they function. Above all, this book is beautifully written, and extremely readable."Alan McKee, Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies<br /><br />"Timely and provocative.enthusiastically written.In 10 well-crafted chapters, Brooker manages to capture the original excitement surrounding the film's 1977 premiere while dissecting how and why the enthusiasm endures.Brooker's clear prose sings.[his] obvious dedication to his project makes Using the Force a must for fans and a necessary read for students of pop culture."The Austin Chronicle
zlib_text: 
  
  
  # Acknowledgments
  
  
  
  
  
  Many people contributed to this book in ways large and small. I would like to
  thank
  
  
  them all, especially the following: Andria Hayday, who is always the first
  person
  
  
  I turn to when I want to brainstorm or sharpen a draft. It would be impossible
  to
  
  
  overstate the value of her input. Leland Chee, Keith Clayton, Pablo Hidalgo,
  Erich
  
  
  Schoeneweiss, Scott Shannon, Frank Parisi, and Carol Roeder, for their
  thoughtful
  
  
  suggestions; Shelly Shapiro and Jennifer Heddle, for everything from their
  incredible
  
  
  patience to their insightful manuscript notes; Dave Eidoni, for his thoughts
  regarding
  
  
  Monoliths; Kathy Lord, for her attention to detail; my agent, Matt Bialer of
  Sanford
  
  
  J. Greenburger Associates, Inc.; all of the people at Lucasfilm and Del Rey
  who make
  
  
  writing _Star Wars_ so much fun; and, finally, to George Lucas, for sharing
  the galaxy far, far away
  
  
  with us all.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # By Troy Denning
  
  
  
  
  
  _Waterdeep_
  
  
  
  
  
  _Dragonwall_
  
  
  
  
  
  _The Parched