The Golden Girls

Tales from the Lanai

by Taylor Cole Miller; Alfred L. Martin, Jr.

Narrated by Tanya Eby; Diontae Black;

Paul Boehmer

ISBN: 9781696620666

Publisher: Highbridge Audio

Publication Date: 09/30/2025

Format: Audio

My Rating: Currently Listening (ALC)

SEP 2025 MUST-READ BOOKS

The Golden Girls: Tales from the Lanai is an accessible collection that explores the cultural, industrial, and historical impact of that beloved American sitcom. Edited by Taylor Cole Miller and Alfred L. Martin, Jr., this anthology brings together a diverse range of voices that model different media studies approaches to researching and critically analyzing television texts.

The Golden Girls reclaims the production history and development of the show, opens new conversations about audiences—especially Black, queer, and female audiences—and provides new insight into the meteoric rise in popularity of The Golden Girls as a 2020s cultural phenomenon.

With twelve original chapters and extensive original interviews offering listeners rare insights behind the scenes, the book is a long day's journey into the marinara of The Golden Girls—an immersive, engaging opportunity for listeners to learn more about the show. It truly is the golden age of The Golden Girls.

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Praise

"These tales offer an amazingly detailed history of the Girls, full of in-depth analysis, revealing interviews, never-before-known facts, and sly references to our favorite funny moments and one-liners. Like Dorothy, it's super-smart. Like Sophia, it'll have you laughing out loud. And like Vanna White's memoir, it's just a helluva book!"

-- Jim Colucci ― New York Times bestselling author of Golden Girls Forever: An Unauthorized Look Behind the Lanai

"Miller and Martin have expertly curated an impressive collection of essays that capture the wit and the heart of The Golden Girls while simultaneously offering an essential contribution to the field of television studies. This is the book that fans and scholars have been waiting for."

-- Racquel J. Gates ― author of Double Negative: The Black Image and Popular Culture

"This book is a testament to both the emotional truth and sociological power this powerhouse television show created. It is a glorious and fascinating look into the writing, the performances, and most of all, the many lines they crossed. I say this from the bottom of my heart to the humans involved in this book: Thank you. For being a friend."

-- Alexandra Billings ― actress and author of This Time for Me: A Memoir

"This book is more fun than a herring circus. Martin and Miller have put together a collection that deftly illustrates the depth, significance, and risk taking that define The Golden Girls. It's an important addition to work on eighties TV and a must-read for fans of the Girls. It made me feel like I just won Butter Queen."

-- Kelly Kessler ― author of Broadway in the Box: Television's Lasting Love Affair with the Musical

"Weaving together witty commentary, behind-the-scenes perspectives, and solid research, this book allows the reader—from casual fan to die-hard fanatic—to reflect upon The Golden Girls phenomenon in fresh and thought-provoking ways."

-- Maria Carpiac ― professor and director of the Gerontology Program at California State University, Long Beach

About the Author

Taylor Cole Miller is an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Alfred L. Martin Jr. is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Cinematic Arts at the University of Miami. He is the author of Fandom for Us, by Us: The Pleasures and Practices of Black Audiences and The Generic Closet: Black Gayness and the Black-Cast Sitcom, and editor of Rolling: Blackness and Mediated Comedy.