This is a thumping great book. Which is exactly why I'm giving it 4 stars. See, some books earn 5 stars because they speak directly to my soul. This book earns 4 stars because I disagree with plenty of what Zoller Seitz has to say - but in a way that makes my heart sing, and makes me want to debate with him for many hours. (Matt, are you out there?)

Zoller Seitz combines newly written 4-page essays on each episode of Mad Men's first three seasons, with edited versions of his reviews of the latter four seasons which were published as the program first aired. He examines thematic connections, historical facts peppered throughout the series, real-world production issues that may have affected the series, and the motivations and desires of these incredibly dense, often contradictory, wonderfully symbolic yet wholly real characters. It's a fascinating book and, although I saw one odd review here that seemed to think this book was putting a needless "leftist" spin on this show (!?!?!?!?!?), he completely gets the anger that this series has toward the straight, white, patriarchy. Some of my very leftist friends don't seem to "get" this about the show, because it is angry in a very subtle way, but I think it's fair to say that no program yet made has spoken to me in quite the same way as I try and exist throughout the culture wars of the early 21st century.

Anyhow, blah blah, shut up, Sammy. Suffice it to say, if you enjoy Mad Men, you owe it to yourself to buy this book for your next rewatch. Are there quirks? Absolutely. Deliciously, Zoller Seitz claims in his preface that he will endeavour not to spoil anything chronologically (for new viewers), even though earlier in that same preface he has revealed that a particular character gets married, and what her married name will be. Now of course, we can debate the academic nature of "spoilers" and also discuss what they even mean in relation to this show, or indeed whether they in fact enhance a viewing experience, but that's all so much philosophy. Point being, this is not the perfect Mad Men book, but I hope to the gods there never is such a thing. As Zoller Seitz (fantastic name, by the way!) says in his intro, this is only his interpretation of a piece of art. Everyone's will be different. If you ever find yourself agreeing 100% with someone else (this is me talking now), maybe you aren't doing enough to be an individual.

A ( )

UPDATE: Just finished watching the series. The book was the perfect companion. I definitely wish there was a book like this for every series that I watch.

I read the corresponding chapter in the book after watching each episode. I'm sure I'll do a rewatch of the series some day and, when I do, I think it would be good to read the chapter first and then watch the corresponding episode. Why? Because the book describes various camera shots and other interesting film-making stuff that I totally missed. For the re-watch, I would know what to keep an eye out for. I already know the plot and how it all ends so I wouldn't be worried about spoilers.
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People read certain episodic reviewers because they want to have a virtual conversation with somebody who's as obsessed with a show as they are. They read multiple reviews of the same TV episode because they want to see the same show through different eyes.

OMG yes!!! So it's not just me who fires up Google after every episode of a brilliant series to see what has been written about it? That's how I discovered this book. It was mentioned in the Vulture recap of Season 1, Episode 8, The Hobo Code. A brand new hardcover on Amazon is $65 so I decided I had better explore the free ebook via Hoopla first.

Saturday night I had an email from Amazon Prime asking me if I wanted to try AMC Plus for two months at 99 cents per month. YES! Thank you! Four nights later, I was done with Season 1. I've just finished skimming through the ebook and it's everything I want and more. In depth reviews of each episode, footnotes, endnotes, little drawings, endless rabbitholes...

After agonizing for hours over various prices and conditions of used hardcovers, I finally used my Chase points to get a brand new paperback from Amazon. It arrives June 3rd. ( )