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The introduction sets out an overview of the series and provides background details of its production. It opens with an account of the development of Lost and its journey into production via ABC and Disney. Discussion then follows of how the series can be positioned in terms of quality television and ‘must-see-TV', creating a popular hit. This is contrasted with the ‘puzzle box’ approach to the narrative undertaken by Abrams, and this is discussed as a major component of the cult appeal of Lost. The introduction then goes on to provide an overview of audience ratings, critical reception and industry recognition. It sets out the way in which Lost stands out as a television milestone in terms of its cult appeal, and in particular its significance as a programme ideally fitted to the era of digital media, cultural convergence and transmedia storytelling.

Chapter 2 analyses the neo-baroque aesthetic of Lost, particularly the narrative’s organization around games and game play. The discussion of the perpetuated hermeneutic and hyperdiegesis in chapter 1 is extended into a directed analysis of the narrative puzzles found in the text of Lost. Specifically, this is discussed in the context of the neo-baroque aesthetics of the postmodern television series. As an example of the neo-baroque, Lost not only interweaves multiple plot threads that continue over many episodes and even whole seasons, but it frequently presents these in a highly fragmented way. In presenting an analysis of Lost’s fragmented narrative, this chapter also addresses the affective engagements this facilitates as the narrative demands the active engagement of an audience familiar with past episodes, enabling the viewer to recognize the virtuosity of the series in constructing a multi-layered narrative. Further, this is discussed in terms of transmedia storytelling, with engaged viewers being required to co-ordinate multiple interrelated plot fragments across different media paratexts.

The mid-2010s saw a wave of nonfiction young adult literature published by authors who initially gained fame through YouTube. In addition to the authors’ shared background experiences, these memoirs have another feature in common. Each example of life writing puts forward a consistent narrative regarding the rationale for their existence: increased intimacy. This chapter offers an analysis of YA YouTube memoirs, first identifying the unique features of this subgenre of youth literature and, then, exploring the question of intimacy across print and digital formats. Despite these author’s claims, intimacy in print or digital narratives might be an impossibility; however, analysis of these memoirs, which function as examples of transmedia storytelling, offers a fruitful space to explore the question of what counts as young adult literature and how scholars of YA literature might study this genre as it expands beyond print texts.