'If there's anyone who doubts Buffy matters, Wilcox's accessible, well written, and carefully argued book is for them. For the rest of us who know Buffy matters, Wilcox provides a generous and richly textured reading of the series sure to provoke discussion and expand our appreciation of its achievement. Why Buffy Matters is a first-rate work of criticism' James B. South , editor of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale ' Why Buffy Matters assembles in one volume the astonishingly perceptive critical commentary of the Mother of Buffy Studies. Like the amazing series it delineates, it brings the funny and brings the tears or am I the only one deeply moved by interpretive brilliance? This book confirms Rhonda Wilcox as the chosen one among television scholars, the one with the intellectual strength and hermeneutic skill to do battle with one of the most complex popular culture texts of our time.' David Lavery , Co-editor of Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies ' Why Buffy Matters negotiates big ideas about literature, television, culture, values, and language with verve and commitment - it's the best Buffy book so far. When it comes to Buffy studies, Wilcox is the Slayer.' Michael Adams.