i LOVE the sopranos, and this disappointed me. it was mostly summary and then fairly surface level analysis, with the exception of the david chase interviews. those are worth reading.

for those who want sopranos analysis my highest recommendation is sopranos autopsy, that site is awesome. the av club reviews werent bad as well. ( )

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/8XHNp2I14OQ

Enjoy! ( )

This book is AWESOME!!

The Sopranos has often been referred to as the best television show of all time. Although there have been many great shows before and since, I must agree with that assessment. The Sopranos wasn’t just a groundbreaking crime drama, it changed television as we knew it, forever.
Twenty years after the fact, and I still believe it should hold top honors.
The authors were a little nervous about this book because twenty years IS a long time ago, especially in the television and entertainment industry. So much as changed in that time, and HBO is not necessarily the king of the hill any longer.

However, they needn’t have worried. Despite the passage of time, any dated quality about The Sopranos is easily overlooked compared to the path the show paved for other great television dramas and the legend it created, which still stands unmatched today.

I loved the title of the book. It couldn’t have been more aptly named. I also enjoyed the forward by author Laura Lippman, and David Chase’s participation and interviews. He really made me chuckle in a few places as he expressed frustration with a coddled audience, who after years of having things explained to them like little children, couldn’t manage to puzzle out the nuances of The Sopranos, constantly asking Chase questions, looking for pat answers, instead of using their brains to draw their own conclusions. Viewers simply were not used to that type of challenge coming from a television program.

This book is very comprehensive, detailing every single episode of every season. Oh, the memories!! The complexity of the show, the many juxtapositions, parallels, and ironies, the fantastic, second to none writing, and the performances all spring back to life, reminding me once more of just how incredible this show was.

The psychology behind public’s fascination with the mob is so interesting. Seriously, Tony Soprano was the ultimate anti-hero. I shook my head many times at how often I found myself pulling for the guy. Really. Then I’d wonder what was wrong with me!! The guy was a serial adulterer and a stone -cold killer, for God’s sake!! However, I don’t think I was alone in that.

This book is a must for fans of The Sopranos. There are so many angles this book brought to my attention, that I’d either missed or forgotten about, even though I’ve watched the series at least three times from start to finish. Now, I want to watch it again, using this book as a guide so I can pick up on all those wonderful little Easter eggs, and pointers, the authors and David Chase provided for me.

The Sopranos, along with several other stellar HBO dramas and comedies, did bring television up to a much higher standard, where it even gave the movie industry a run for its money. The show helped spawn such outstanding shows as Mad Men and Breaking Bad, giving the industry respect it had struggled to obtain almost from its inception.

I can’t say it held on to that level of quality programing, however. There are some quality programs out there, but they are far and few between, in my opinion. Thankfully, I still have all my DVD box sets of The Sopranos and can still watch the best show ever made as often as I like.

If you missed out on the show back in the day and are curious about it now, watch the series from start to finish- THEN add this book to your library or only read it in sections, due to spoilers.

Causal fans will become hard core fans once they study the show a little more and see the genius behind it.

Diehard fans- BUY THIS BOOK! You’ll LOVE it!
5 stars ( )