3.5, rounding up because I got out of this the main things I desire from nonfiction: knowledge, delivered engagingly. The added context to some of the cultural and ad industry references in the show (like Don mentioning Koenig in light of seeking a copy/art duo to hire) were interesting!

That said, as other reviews have mentioned, the entries in this book are quite short and end abruptly, right when you think they're just getting going. It's like reading an article online that turns out to be a preview, with the rest behind a paywall. Or maybe like reading a timed essay -- like the author only got 5 minutes per section before her editor confiscated it to force her onto the next. The guest essays are not quite as rough.

I liked this book: I just want more of it. Maybe a new, expanded edition? A second volume? There's not even an epilogue/conclusion to wrap everything up at the end! This is the final sentence of the book before the Acknowledgements page: "There were stories [fictional mainly in this statement] of newly liberated couples mingling at desert soirees, older women usurped by their husband's [sic] young lover, or scared nice girls making 'helpless fools of themselves' inside a divorce colony on a terrifying frontier." Most of that page is a photo of a Joshua tree, pushing this final statement to the very bottom of the page, and again, the page after this is for acknowledgment. Very weak way to conclude a book!

This book was published while Mad Men was still in production, so there's further culture points in the arc of the show that could be included, or would add additional perspective on the selected topics (e.g. adding closeted ladder-climber Bob to the discussion of homosexuality, or looking at Peggy's and Abe's "homesteading" gentrification venture, let alone the acceleration in drug culture beyond Mother's Little Helpers and pot -- LSD, obviously, but also the "vitamin" injection the SCDP men get from a quack doctor in one episode).

I wish all the images had gotten explanatory captions. Most are self-explanatory as a mood-setter, but a short note would still be interesting. A couple (with captions) I would have loved longer notes for, e.g. the abortion client on a stretcher being carried out by police, the soldier looking at the "VD Hall of Fame" filled with women's mugshots.


Sources:
I appreciated the footnotes in a recognizable mode of Chicago Style. Wish there were a bibliography page to collect all the sources in one spot. Looking back, however, I realize only the quotes got these attributions (and occasionally the citations are narrative) -- UGH. I get it, it's not an academic book, BUT STILL. Major pet peeve, especially because this becomes a very common student flub they have to be trained out of (since officially that's a form of plagiarism in the ivory tower), made worse by the fact that, again, there's no bibliography to note what other sources were consulted. Sigh. As I tell students, citations add authority to your claims! Why would you forego them, especially in a book or digital media that's not strictly limited to a word count? ( )

very very light (not always topic-wise, but depth-wise) and fun. read it in a day in the sun and that was just about perfect. ( )

I was hoping for a little more depth--this was kind of like reading a bunch of Wikipedia articles. Lots of information but no real analysis. I guess I wanted a "so what?"
( )

I've become obsessed with the show Mad Men. This book has short essays about different aspects of the show's time period such as drinking, fashion, smoking. I would have liked the essays to be a bit longer. My interest was peaked and then it was over. I guess I'll just need to do more research. ( )

I like sales. I probably wouldn’t have been as happy with this book had I picked it up at full price. But for $5, it was an interesting insight into the life and times of the 1960s, when one of my favourite television shows, Mad Men, was set. I need to warn you though before you click the ‘Buy Now’ button, that this book does not contain any photos of Don Draper. Yes, that’s right. A book about a television programme minus gratuitous pictures of the rather lovely looking male main character, nor pictures of any other character for that matter. Why?

I suspect the answer to the above question is because this is more a ‘fan’ book than a licenced Mad Men book. In fact, the author makes reference to how much she enjoys the show in the acknowledgements and thanks the series creator. But be wary, this book is a collection of short essays about fashions, manners, pop culture and advertising of the 1960s. It links in written format to events and characters in Mad Men, but there are no pictures of the show. Pictures of 1960s advertising campaigns, yes, but none of Joan’s fashions or Betty’s hairstyles.

Is that such a bad thing? It might be for some fans, but once I realised this was an in-depth look at the life and times of the characters – what they read and what influenced them, I enjoyed it. It would also work for a non-Mad Men fan too who simply wanted to know what life was like for the average American during the early 1960s. Each essay is fairly short and can be read as a standalone piece, or as part of the major chapters, or from cover to cover.

The writing style is easy-going and references pertinent points in case you’d like to delve further. The pictures included give the reader more insight into the real world of the 1960s (e.g. book covers, movie posters). It’s not Don Draper Illustrated, but it’s interesting for those of us who analyse every movement of the series. ( )