Why Buffy Matters: The Art of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

This is a splendid read for Buffy fans who sense deeper meanings to the stories in the Buffiverse but tend to get strange looks from their adult educated friends . . . ! Sometimes Wilcox's analogies can seem a little stretched - e.g she seems to be intent on equating Buffy with Dickens, especially Esther Summerson, which I think is a bit tenuous, but her theories are always intriguing. For example the connection between Spike and light is something I now see when I watch the episodes back but didn't really clock at the time. An engagingly written book.

"I Think I Can Name Myself: Naming and Identity in Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is hands-down the best academic Buffy essay I've ever read. And I've read a lot of them.