Overview

This book features an in-depth analysis of the world’s most popular movie, The Shawshank Redemption, delving into issues such as: the significance of race in the film, its cinematic debt to earlier genres, the gothic influences at work in the movie, and the representation of Andy’s poster art as cross-gendered signifiers. In addition to exploring the film and novella from which it was adapted, this book also traces the history of the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio, which served as the film’s central location, and its relationship to the movie’s fictional Shawshank Prison. The last chapter examines why this film has remained both a popular and critical success, inspiring diverse fan bases on the Internet and the evolution of the Shawshank Trail, fourteen of the film’s actual site locations that have become a major tourist attraction in central Ohio.

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9781349953509

Table of Contents

Reviews

The Shawshank Experience: Tracking the History of the World's Favorite Movie is an easy read, full of interesting anecdotes and trivia about the film, and it's an excellent research tool for anyone doing Stephen King studies, genre film studies, audience reception, fan studies, and academic approaches to the American penal system as it intersects with its presentation in films. (Lynda Haas, The Journal of the Fantastic in the Art, Vol. 30 (2), 2020)

Author Information

Maura Grady is Assistant Professor of English and Director of the Composition program at Ashland University, USA. She is the author of a number of articles and book chapters on Film and Television History, Fandom Studies, and Gender Studies. Tony Magistrale is Professor of English at the University of Vermont, USA. He is the author of Hollywood’s Stephen King and editor of The Films of Stephen King.

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