--- title: American Diva: 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 description: Find out why "American Diva" is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. canonical: https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172803/american-diva/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-11-13T13:17:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-03T00:43:02.283Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'American Diva' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 og:description: Here's why it made the list og:url: https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172803/american-diva/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8481b76cbf3c09f/698a8d09b21a9c424550f7d3/American-Diva-Deborah-Paredez.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 'American Diva' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'American Diva' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 twitter:description: Here's why it made the list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8481b76cbf3c09f/698a8d09b21a9c424550f7d3/American-Diva-Deborah-Paredez.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 13, 2024 # American Diva by [Shannon Carlin](https://time.com/author/shannon-carlin/) ## Shannon Carlin Carlin is a contributor for TIME.  _American Diva: Extraordinary, Unruly, Fabulous_ is poet and cultural critic Deborah Paredez's impassioned deep dive into the etymology of the titular term. “I want to know how and why divas, once synonymous with virtuosity, became symbols of vitriol,” writes the author and professor, who has been teaching a seminar on the subject since 2009, most recently at [Columbia University](https://arts.columbia.edu/news/writing-chair-deborah-paredez-publish-new-book-divas). Using her own coming-of-age fascination with fierce, unapologetic women like [Grace Jones](https://time.com/4028928/grace-jones-miley-cyrus-rihanna-lady-gaga/), [Aretha Franklin](https://time.com/collection/firsts/4898601/aretha-franklin-firsts/), and [Tina Turner](https://time.com/6282800/tina-turner-whats-love-got-to-do-with-it/), she traces the evolution of the misconstrued term, once used to celebrate female opera singers, across the last half-century. What she discovers is that the definition of “diva” may have changed, but women “who leave you wrecked and ready to revolt” endure. **Buy Now:** _American Diva_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781324035305) | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/4feleor) | [Barnes & Noble](https://fave.co/40GrCjF) These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172803/american-diva/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172803/american-diva/"},"headline":"American Diva","datePublished":"2024-11-13T13:17:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:43:02.283Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172803/american-diva/","keywords":["Books","E-Commerce","list","franchise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8481b76cbf3c09f/698a8d09b21a9c424550f7d3/American-Diva-Deborah-Paredez.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shannon Carlin","jobTitle":"Carlin is a contributor for TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/shannon-carlin/"}],"creator":"Shannon Carlin","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8481b76cbf3c09f/698a8d09b21a9c424550f7d3/American-Diva-Deborah-Paredez.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172803/american-diva/","name":"American Diva"}}]}] ```