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Suits

A Cultural History

Suits cover

Suits

A Cultural History

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Pre-order. Available Oct 15 2026
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Description

Fifteen years after the show's debut, take a look back at the pop culture phenomenon Suits and its place in the pantheon of famous legal dramas.

Suits is a cultural phenomenon. It has reached multiple generations of viewers and become one of Netflix's most binge-watched series. Drawing on the history of the television lawyer, workplace drama, and postmodern comedy, the show explores the professional and personal impact of pursuing a career in high-stakes corporate litigation. Its characters navigate ruthless office politics and battle impostor syndrome, while working grueling hours and seeking personal fulfillment.

In Suits: A Cultural History, Richard L. Schur argues that the show reconfigures familiar television tropes and uncovers cultural hopes and fears about ambition, work, success, and justice. Beneath the tailored suits and clever banter lies a deeper story about status anxiety and the cost of “making it.” Set against the two main intellectual currents of the 2010s-Obama's optimism and Trump's nostalgia-Suits exposes a cultural hunger for moral clarity yet harbors suspicions about the major American social institutions that supposedly provide it. What emerges is not simply a television show about rich, attractive lawyers involved in sometimes outlandish cases but a window into viewers' desires for family, community, and justice. A must-read for fans of the show.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Suits: An Introduction
2. The History of Television Lawyers
3. Hope and Nostalgia: American Culture in the 2010s
4. Suits Production History
5. Masculinity on Trial: The Men of Suits
6. The Changing Roles of Women on Suits
7. The Suits Aesthetic
8. Ambition, Success and Power in Suits
9. Moral Talk in an Amoral Universe
10. Race at the Office
11. The Firm as Family
Conclusion
Appendix: My Favorite Suits Episodes
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published Oct 15 2026
Format Ebook (PDF)
Edition 1st
Pages 240
ISBN 9798216202363
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Illustrations 10 bw photos
Series The Cultural History of Television
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Richard L. Schur

Richard L. Schur, PhD, is a professor of English a…

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