The Shawshank Experience: Tracking the History of the World’s Favorite Movie

by Maura Grady, Tony Magistrale

This book features an in-depth analysis of the world’s most popular movie, The Shawshank Redemption, delving into issues such as: the significance of race in the film, its cinematic debt to earlier genres, the gothic influences at work in the movie, and the representation of Andy’s poster art as cross-gendered signifiers. In addition to exploring the film and novella from which it was adapted, this book also traces the history of the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio, which served as the film’s central location, and its relationship to the movie’s fictional Shawshank Prison. The last chapter examines why this film has remained both a popular and critical success, inspiring diverse fan bases on the Internet and the evolution of the Shawshank Trail, fourteen of the film’s actual site locations that have become a major tourist attraction in central Ohio.

250 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 11, 2016

About the author

Dr. Maura Grady is the Director of Composition and the University Writing Center at Ashland University. Her scholarly work includes Composition and Pedagogy and Film and Television Studies. She is the Director of the Composition Program and the University Writing Center.

Reviews

[Chris Lavallee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice in-depth analysis of the film, it's resonance with the American penalties system, other works by King, Fandom, as well as symbolism and themes of the film itself. Written for an academic audience, so it's a bit dense for those less interested in literary analysis.