Does Reality Matter

Some argue that reality television represents the perigee of western civilization. Yet for many, it's a harmless guilty pleasure that also defines, for better or worse, the celebrity drenched, voyeuristic culture we are immersed in. Anna David, in a new book Reality Matters: 19 Writers Come Clean About the Shows We Can't Stop Watching, has assembled 19 serious writers, including L'enfant terrible James Frey, to give their views on this genre that seems to have such a hold on so many. My conversation with Anna David: