Cosplay. Celebrity impersonation. Historical reenactment. Drag. RenFairs. Through research and stories, come discover the transformationalworld of costumes, and how they can be used to uncover, cultivate, andrepresent aspects of one's inner self.Thomas Endres presents a much-needed deeper dive into a phenomenondefined by difference. The case study interviews, and most importantly thephotographs documenting the subjects interviewed in their cosplay performance,are presented in a manner that allows a greater depth of articulated voice fromindividuals than previous works have allowed.

Bringing these voices into theconversation allows Endres' work to both explore community norms andindividual motives in their artistry while positioning them within thephenomenon's history, trends, and topics.~J. Richard Stevens, author of Captain America, Masculinity, and Violence: TheEvolution of a National IconTom, masterfully intertwines the stories of cosplayers to academicscholarship in ways that make them both accessible to and poignant for readers.Emerging from them are important questions regarding taken-for-grantedassumptions about identity, authenticity, and purpose. Tom vividly illustrateshow cosplay can transform lives. I agree. Especially in a world where polarizedideologies and judgmental thinking about difference have become normalized,these important stories need to be told. Thank you, Tom, for telling them so well.

~Deanna D. Sellnow, author of The Rhetorical Power of Popular Culture:Considering Mediated Texts.