Over the past fifteen years, Michael Moore has transformed himself from a marginal filmmaker into a cultural icon, unofficial spokesperson for liberals and the left, and target for conservative criticism, Book author, film director, television personality, and Web presence, Moore is now a one-man cultural phenomenon. Although biographies of Moore have appeared and articles in scholarly journals, film magazines, and popular news media have featured him, this is the first comprehensive volume focusing on the Moore phenomenon. It explores Moore's work in film and elsewhere, bringing diverse perspectives on his activities and status as voice of liberal America and the disenfranchised working class. Topics examined include the disjunction between Moore's celebrity status and everyman, middle-western persona, his self-mocking ironic sensibility, his tendency to diagnose American social and political problems in terms of class rather than gender, his reception abroad, and his uneasy relationship with the conventios of documentatry filmmaking. The contributors are leading scholars and film critics, including Paul Arthur, Cary Elza, Jeffrey P. Jones, Douglas Kellner, Richard Kilborn, William Luhr, Charles Musser, Richard R. Ness, Miles Orvell, Richard Porton, Sergio Rizzo, Christopher Sharrett, Gaylyn Studlar, and David Tetzlaff. The volume features both analyses of his most successful films. The result is a definitive assessment of Moore's career to date.