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The Wire: Truth Be Told
Welcome to the critically acclaimed HBO drama series "The Wire," hailed as "the best show on television, period" by the "San Francisco Chronicle." "The New York Times" calls it "a vital part of the television landscape...unvarnished realism." "Time" declares that "The Wire," "like its underfunded, workaday cops, just plugged away until it outshone everything else on TV.""The Wire" stands not only as riveting drama but also as a sociopolitical treatise with ambitions beyond any television serial. The failure of the drug war, the betrayal of the working class, the bureaucratization of the culture and the cost to individual dignity -- such are the themes of the drama's first two seasons. And with every new episode of season three and beyond, another layer of modern urban life will be revealed. Gritty, densely layered, and realistic, "The Wire" is series television at its very best, told from the point of view of the Baltimore police, their targets, and many of those caught in the middle.
Rafael Alvarez -- a reporter, essayist, and staff writer for the show -- brings the reader inside, detailing many of the real-life incidents and personalities that have inspired the show's storylines and characters, providing the reader with insights into the city of Baltimore -- itself an undeniable character in the series. Packed with photographs and featuring an introduction by series creator and executive producer David Simon, as well as essays by acclaimed authors
George Pelecanos, Laura Lippman, and Anthony Walton, here is an invaluable resource for both fans of the show and viewers who have yet to discover "The Wire."
Hollywood has long used the cop drama to excite andentertain, and Hollywood has always dictated the terms. But "The Wire" is filmed entirely in Baltimore, conceived by Baltimoreans, and written by rust-belt journalists and novelists intimately familiar with the urban landscape. It's as close as television has yet come to allowing an American city to tell its own tale.
Rafael Alvarez -- a reporter, essayist, and staff writer for the show -- brings the reader inside, detailing many of the real-life incidents and personalities that have inspired the show's storylines and characters, providing the reader with insights into the city of Baltimore -- itself an undeniable character in the series. Packed with photographs and featuring an introduction by series creator and executive producer David Simon, as well as essays by acclaimed authors
George Pelecanos, Laura Lippman, and Anthony Walton, here is an invaluable resource for both fans of the show and viewers who have yet to discover "The Wire."
Hollywood has long used the cop drama to excite andentertain, and Hollywood has always dictated the terms. But "The Wire" is filmed entirely in Baltimore, conceived by Baltimoreans, and written by rust-belt journalists and novelists intimately familiar with the urban landscape. It's as close as television has yet come to allowing an American city to tell its own tale.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published September 14, 2004
124 people are currently reading
1738 people want to read
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January 21, 2024
This is an episode by episode guide prefaced, interspersed, and finished off with a multitude of essays, interviews and background to one of the greatest shows ever aired, HBO's The Wire. This book has a code, a code that says give a reader everything they want from The Wire!
Easily the best TV series ever made in my opinion from its portrayal of the African American gang-class, the strife of being in an American work union, and the internal police and wider local politics through to its portrayal of African American homosexuality, the failure of the American school system to serve poorer communities; but overall it was the long-from story telling with no regard for advertisers, so all about telling a story.
Most of all, this book and series looks at, and honestly critique the policing, education and political manipulation of poorer communities. What made the TV show genius for me was the way it truly humanised every single character. Some unique things about the TV show 1. Every single background conversation was scripted to have context. 2. Countless supporting cast are from Baltimore, including real ex-gangsters, police, politicians, teachers and journos. 3. Episode writers included George Pelecanos, Rafael Alvarez and Denis Lehane! All in a game yo!
2024, 2022 and 2013 read
Easily the best TV series ever made in my opinion from its portrayal of the African American gang-class, the strife of being in an American work union, and the internal police and wider local politics through to its portrayal of African American homosexuality, the failure of the American school system to serve poorer communities; but overall it was the long-from story telling with no regard for advertisers, so all about telling a story.
Most of all, this book and series looks at, and honestly critique the policing, education and political manipulation of poorer communities. What made the TV show genius for me was the way it truly humanised every single character. Some unique things about the TV show 1. Every single background conversation was scripted to have context. 2. Countless supporting cast are from Baltimore, including real ex-gangsters, police, politicians, teachers and journos. 3. Episode writers included George Pelecanos, Rafael Alvarez and Denis Lehane! All in a game yo!
2024, 2022 and 2013 read
May 14, 2020
i read this book a long, long time ago, waaaay back before i used to write reviews, and i absolutely loved it. obviously. the wire is great. but now—into the garbage can it goes! finish this sentence: bedbugs pooped all over my nice hardcover edition of this book because...
1) bedbugs have zero taste.
2) bedbugs are assholes.
3) bedbugs are living creatures, and living creatures poop because—science.
4) and i'm just inferring here, but i'm pretty sure bedbugs are racist.
this is not a quiz—all of the above responses are correct. fuck you, bedbugs. fuck you the most.
also—insect poop is called "frass."
consider yourself enlightened.
come to my blog!
1) bedbugs have zero taste.
2) bedbugs are assholes.
3) bedbugs are living creatures, and living creatures poop because—science.
4) and i'm just inferring here, but i'm pretty sure bedbugs are racist.
this is not a quiz—all of the above responses are correct. fuck you, bedbugs. fuck you the most.
also—insect poop is called "frass."
consider yourself enlightened.
come to my blog!
March 15, 2018
HE HAS NOTHING TO DECLARE EXCEPT HIS GENIUS, IT SEEMS
Would you like to read an introduction to Hamlet written by Shakespeare himself? Not if it went something like “I knew when I began Hamlet that I wished to blow the conventions of the revenge tragedy sky-high, and by God that’s what I did. Hamlet’s soliloquies are, I feel, the finest in all my 36 plays and I feel that with the character of Ophelia…I must thank HBO for allowing me the space to demonstrate the full extent of my genius…” And blah blah blah.
No, me neither. But that’s what we get here. Yes, David Simon, I do think you’re one of America’s national treasures, I do I do I do, but don’t write intros like that any more! I beseech thee!
THE WIRE JUST ABOUT BROKE MY COOLOMETER
A thick pall of self congratulation hangs over The Wire, both amongst its makers and amongst its viewers. How cool are we? says everyone. And it’s true, while I was watching The Wire my coolometer has reached its maximum 100% reading at times, and that hardly ever happened – I think the last time was when Buzz Lightyear was confronted with his own cliché-spouting doppelganger in Toy Story 2, a moment of existential catharsis for him and for us too (“was I ever really this stupid?”). It’s good to crow and to tell everyone loudly and shrilly how great you are, this is something we tell our children every day, and the boys who put together The Wire turn out to be very articulate in this regard :
My standard for verisimilitude is simple and I came to it when I started to write prose narratives : fuck the average reader. (David Simon, p 382)
The Wire is the most anti-tv show out there. The vision is almost completely uncompromising, makes almost no concessions to the audience. There’s zero wish fulfillment in it. (Dennis Lehane, p322)
David Simon on himself and his co-writers :
We hang out in the Baltimores of this world writing what we want to write about and never keeping one eye on whether or not it could sell as much as a drama that had, say, more white faces, more women with big tits, and more stuff that blows up or squirts blood real good… I don’t mean this to come across as some snotty declaration of classist, pseudo-proletarian pretension. (David Simon on himself and his co-writers)
BUT THAT’S ENOUGH ABOUT THOSE MOPES
It was axiomatic with British tv fans in the 60s to 80s that American tv was amazingly dreadful, with maybe a couple of sitcoms allowed to be mildly amusing. Serious tv drama was done by the BBC, and that was that. Things changed in the 1990s and now you would have to be Tommy the blind deaf and dumb boy or his similarly-afflicted sister Tammy not to notice that American tv drama is not just the best but is continually redefining what is possible and how good the best can be. The Wire is one of these redefining shows, but it won’t be the last.
It’s not my favourite, though. I think it’s extremely easy to admire but quite hard to love. Yeah, the sweep, yeah the Tolstoyevskian Dickensian panorama, the anatomy of a city and yeah the America You Do Not See On Television, and yeah modern urban life, the horror, the horror. All of that.
But Homicide, David Simon’s previous big show, made me weep and howl, made me tremble with fear and exclaim loudly. The Wire made me look at my tv for hours and hours and purr like a cat. If you crept up you could hear me purring softly “This is some cool shit, very nice, yeah” but I wasn’t weeping and howling. But just mention the rollcall of detectives from Hommy – Munch, the great meldrick lewis, the Shakespearian Pembleton, Kay, the wounded Bayliss, the tragic Giardello, the self-immolating Kellerman – I weep, I howl. That was my show.
Now something strange happened between David Simon writing Hommy and 10 years later The Wire, and I don’t think anyone has commented on it. I couldn’t work it out. In Homicide the Homicide Unit itself is thought of as the elite of police, it’s not easy to become a murder cop, they only take the best. In The Wire, suddenly there are all manner of incompetents working murders, they’ve got poor attitudes, they’re lazy, all they really like is the overtime. What happened?
Back to the Wire.
GOOD WIRE STUFF
- It's the only place on God's earth you're ever likely to see and hear burly African American guys singing lustily along to The Pogues! Not once, but twice!
- It has not one but TWO "Renee Zellweger" moments - years and years ago I'd never heard of the ever fragrant Miss Zellweger and I watched Briget Jones Diary - it was pretty good in a cosy little furry bunny with a little pink nose kind of way - then someone put on the Extras and gor blimey - she wasn't English at all! She was from texas and had a drawl a mile wide! That was the best American-doing-English ever. So in The Wire it was the other way round - McNulty and Stringer Bell turned out to be British! I found this out half way through series four... so best British doing American to them.
BAD WIRE STUFF
- the frankly stupid and unbelievable character of Brother Mouzone – what kind of shit was that? BM looks like a character from the worst kind of cliched thriller. Awful.
- the only marginally less frankly stupid and unbelievable character of Butchie – how does a blind guy get to be a mover and shaker in the lethal drug underworld? No offence, I’m sure he was a nice guy and all.
- the really earnest amounts of black gayness. It was like – I don’t think this has been done before so let’s do it a lot.
- two or three gross and gratuitous rumpy pumpy scenes with McNulty (obligatory shot of hot girl on top), Daniels/Pearlman – that particular sex scene was just weird – and Keema with some random pickup. Like HBO said Okay David, love the show, love it, but you have to admit – not many women, and no sex at all! C’mon, just do us one little favour. So he stomped off and slotted these scenes in.
- I might argue that the show fails with its big strong male characters – in fact The Wire is almost content to perpetuate the mythic aura of these guys rather than explicate. We don’t know how Avon got to be the kingpin he already is at the beginning; and when a new overlord appears in series 3, Marlo, he has no story – one day he’s not there, next day , unsmiling, death-dealing, implacable, unhurried, respected and accepted by all, there he is. How? The Wire does not go there. The Wire only skates on the surface of the private lives of these big men. In its hectic ambition to encompass the whole world of Baltimore some important aspects are either elided or remained elusive or were backed away from. (In Godfather the rise of Vito Corleone was mapped out in detail.)
- likewise we have almost zero insight into the lives of the slingers’ customers, the fiends. Oh but what about Bubs? Well, Bubs is a completely exceptional fiend – supersnitch, court jester, heart of gold, resourceful, maybe the only character we actually love in the whole epic. He’s a fiend all right but not like the pitiful regular junkies we only catch glimpses of, like Michael’s mother. They mooch up to the corner, make their buy, and mooch off. How do they live?
- A few of the scenes people like a lot seem contrived – the crime scene in which Bunk & McNulty reconstruct a murder and for 8 minutes use only the word “Fuck” in all its nuanced eloquence; and the scene in The Pit when D’Angelo explains the rules of chess and of course makes all these ironic parallels with the rules of The Game – eh, come on, a bit too cute for me.
- the antics of Herc & Carver, there it seems to give us a little light relief in the same spirit that Willie the Shake threw in scenes of buffoonery for the groundlings – maybe a little unworthy
- no mention of white middle class drug use which is tolerated in some echelons – The Wire has us thinking that all drug users are poor ghetto dwellers and I believe this is not accurate
THAT SAID, A CONFESSION
I’m one of those snobs who never watches tv, only dvds. Well, except that my family (all two of them) insist on dragging me into watching Strictly Come Dancing and The X Factor. But that’s okay, because SCD has all these gorgeous women on it. And X Factor is like some kind of annual evangelical religious revival which sweeps Britain every autumn. Remember when John Lennon said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus? Well, The X Factor is bigger than Jesus. It’s even bigger than Lady Diana, if that’s not sacrilege. But that’s okay. Watching X Factor stops me from becoming a complete elitist. It gives me the common touch. Can’t talk to people about whether the novel has a future but you can talk about Wagner (who the hell is voting for that idiot?) and whether Cher is a chav.
The Wire is perhaps the first tv show where the main audience has been like me – we saw it on the box sets. This may be a very important consideration for future programme makers.
The Wire is obviously great, a wondrous milestone, and is an essential meditation on a timeless human problem, which is the ineradicable desire of people, all people, to get loaded, to get out of their heads, to get enough medicine inside them to settle if only for a fleeting moment their frayed lives, and the equally adamantine determination of their rulers to stop them. If we stuff Bunk and McNulty into appropriate clothes and shove them out of the time machine in the year 1925 it’ll be bootleg whiskey that’s leading the dance, and in 1825 it’ll be opium dens, and in 1725 it’ll be gin shops – in England anyway. In Baltimore in the early 21st century it was heroin and cocaine. In 50 years time the drugs will have changed, they’ll probably be called sploot or glerk and they’ll be made from the scrotum of a particular type of chinchilla rabbit or something else really hard to get hold of, and guess what also, they’ll be ILLEGAL and this illegality will cause the same problems. But that’s really a topic for another review, this one is about The Wire, sixty hours of the best tv made by some of the most self-satisfied smug bastards this side of Simon Cowell.
POSTSCRIPT
I should mention that this is BOOK of which the above is really not a review is itself a very solid effort, good read, good reference, good pix, I liked it, you will too.
ADDENDUM
Stringer’s drive to become completely legit, to move entirely into real estate, echoes Michael Corleone’s vain promise to Kay in Godfather II.
In The Wire real life bled into fictional – bit parts were played by real police, real politicians, rappers, real corner boys, reformed gangsters, and also the show’s own writers and producers.
Ed Burns : Once a police officer aspires to rank – you would think that stopping crime would be the number one priority – crime is so far down the list you can’t even find it.
George Pelecanos : I make my living writing about people who, because of an accident of birth and circumstance, are less fortunate than me…I often say that my mission is to illuminate and dignify their lives…What goes unsaid is the gnawing feeling that I am also exploiting them for my personal gain.
The morality of The Wire is – the good guys do bad stuff all the time but they know it’s bad while they’re doing it. That’s how we know they’re the good guys.
And finally : Snoop, played by Felicia Pearson, is the scariest female villain ever. She haunts my dreams, pursuing me to a vacant, nail gun in hand. Analyse that!
Would you like to read an introduction to Hamlet written by Shakespeare himself? Not if it went something like “I knew when I began Hamlet that I wished to blow the conventions of the revenge tragedy sky-high, and by God that’s what I did. Hamlet’s soliloquies are, I feel, the finest in all my 36 plays and I feel that with the character of Ophelia…I must thank HBO for allowing me the space to demonstrate the full extent of my genius…” And blah blah blah.
No, me neither. But that’s what we get here. Yes, David Simon, I do think you’re one of America’s national treasures, I do I do I do, but don’t write intros like that any more! I beseech thee!
THE WIRE JUST ABOUT BROKE MY COOLOMETER
A thick pall of self congratulation hangs over The Wire, both amongst its makers and amongst its viewers. How cool are we? says everyone. And it’s true, while I was watching The Wire my coolometer has reached its maximum 100% reading at times, and that hardly ever happened – I think the last time was when Buzz Lightyear was confronted with his own cliché-spouting doppelganger in Toy Story 2, a moment of existential catharsis for him and for us too (“was I ever really this stupid?”). It’s good to crow and to tell everyone loudly and shrilly how great you are, this is something we tell our children every day, and the boys who put together The Wire turn out to be very articulate in this regard :
My standard for verisimilitude is simple and I came to it when I started to write prose narratives : fuck the average reader. (David Simon, p 382)
The Wire is the most anti-tv show out there. The vision is almost completely uncompromising, makes almost no concessions to the audience. There’s zero wish fulfillment in it. (Dennis Lehane, p322)
David Simon on himself and his co-writers :
We hang out in the Baltimores of this world writing what we want to write about and never keeping one eye on whether or not it could sell as much as a drama that had, say, more white faces, more women with big tits, and more stuff that blows up or squirts blood real good… I don’t mean this to come across as some snotty declaration of classist, pseudo-proletarian pretension. (David Simon on himself and his co-writers)
BUT THAT’S ENOUGH ABOUT THOSE MOPES
It was axiomatic with British tv fans in the 60s to 80s that American tv was amazingly dreadful, with maybe a couple of sitcoms allowed to be mildly amusing. Serious tv drama was done by the BBC, and that was that. Things changed in the 1990s and now you would have to be Tommy the blind deaf and dumb boy or his similarly-afflicted sister Tammy not to notice that American tv drama is not just the best but is continually redefining what is possible and how good the best can be. The Wire is one of these redefining shows, but it won’t be the last.
It’s not my favourite, though. I think it’s extremely easy to admire but quite hard to love. Yeah, the sweep, yeah the Tolstoyevskian Dickensian panorama, the anatomy of a city and yeah the America You Do Not See On Television, and yeah modern urban life, the horror, the horror. All of that.
But Homicide, David Simon’s previous big show, made me weep and howl, made me tremble with fear and exclaim loudly. The Wire made me look at my tv for hours and hours and purr like a cat. If you crept up you could hear me purring softly “This is some cool shit, very nice, yeah” but I wasn’t weeping and howling. But just mention the rollcall of detectives from Hommy – Munch, the great meldrick lewis, the Shakespearian Pembleton, Kay, the wounded Bayliss, the tragic Giardello, the self-immolating Kellerman – I weep, I howl. That was my show.
Now something strange happened between David Simon writing Hommy and 10 years later The Wire, and I don’t think anyone has commented on it. I couldn’t work it out. In Homicide the Homicide Unit itself is thought of as the elite of police, it’s not easy to become a murder cop, they only take the best. In The Wire, suddenly there are all manner of incompetents working murders, they’ve got poor attitudes, they’re lazy, all they really like is the overtime. What happened?
Back to the Wire.
GOOD WIRE STUFF
- It's the only place on God's earth you're ever likely to see and hear burly African American guys singing lustily along to The Pogues! Not once, but twice!
- It has not one but TWO "Renee Zellweger" moments - years and years ago I'd never heard of the ever fragrant Miss Zellweger and I watched Briget Jones Diary - it was pretty good in a cosy little furry bunny with a little pink nose kind of way - then someone put on the Extras and gor blimey - she wasn't English at all! She was from texas and had a drawl a mile wide! That was the best American-doing-English ever. So in The Wire it was the other way round - McNulty and Stringer Bell turned out to be British! I found this out half way through series four... so best British doing American to them.
BAD WIRE STUFF
- the frankly stupid and unbelievable character of Brother Mouzone – what kind of shit was that? BM looks like a character from the worst kind of cliched thriller. Awful.
- the only marginally less frankly stupid and unbelievable character of Butchie – how does a blind guy get to be a mover and shaker in the lethal drug underworld? No offence, I’m sure he was a nice guy and all.
- the really earnest amounts of black gayness. It was like – I don’t think this has been done before so let’s do it a lot.
- two or three gross and gratuitous rumpy pumpy scenes with McNulty (obligatory shot of hot girl on top), Daniels/Pearlman – that particular sex scene was just weird – and Keema with some random pickup. Like HBO said Okay David, love the show, love it, but you have to admit – not many women, and no sex at all! C’mon, just do us one little favour. So he stomped off and slotted these scenes in.
- I might argue that the show fails with its big strong male characters – in fact The Wire is almost content to perpetuate the mythic aura of these guys rather than explicate. We don’t know how Avon got to be the kingpin he already is at the beginning; and when a new overlord appears in series 3, Marlo, he has no story – one day he’s not there, next day , unsmiling, death-dealing, implacable, unhurried, respected and accepted by all, there he is. How? The Wire does not go there. The Wire only skates on the surface of the private lives of these big men. In its hectic ambition to encompass the whole world of Baltimore some important aspects are either elided or remained elusive or were backed away from. (In Godfather the rise of Vito Corleone was mapped out in detail.)
- likewise we have almost zero insight into the lives of the slingers’ customers, the fiends. Oh but what about Bubs? Well, Bubs is a completely exceptional fiend – supersnitch, court jester, heart of gold, resourceful, maybe the only character we actually love in the whole epic. He’s a fiend all right but not like the pitiful regular junkies we only catch glimpses of, like Michael’s mother. They mooch up to the corner, make their buy, and mooch off. How do they live?
- A few of the scenes people like a lot seem contrived – the crime scene in which Bunk & McNulty reconstruct a murder and for 8 minutes use only the word “Fuck” in all its nuanced eloquence; and the scene in The Pit when D’Angelo explains the rules of chess and of course makes all these ironic parallels with the rules of The Game – eh, come on, a bit too cute for me.
- the antics of Herc & Carver, there it seems to give us a little light relief in the same spirit that Willie the Shake threw in scenes of buffoonery for the groundlings – maybe a little unworthy
- no mention of white middle class drug use which is tolerated in some echelons – The Wire has us thinking that all drug users are poor ghetto dwellers and I believe this is not accurate
THAT SAID, A CONFESSION
I’m one of those snobs who never watches tv, only dvds. Well, except that my family (all two of them) insist on dragging me into watching Strictly Come Dancing and The X Factor. But that’s okay, because SCD has all these gorgeous women on it. And X Factor is like some kind of annual evangelical religious revival which sweeps Britain every autumn. Remember when John Lennon said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus? Well, The X Factor is bigger than Jesus. It’s even bigger than Lady Diana, if that’s not sacrilege. But that’s okay. Watching X Factor stops me from becoming a complete elitist. It gives me the common touch. Can’t talk to people about whether the novel has a future but you can talk about Wagner (who the hell is voting for that idiot?) and whether Cher is a chav.
The Wire is perhaps the first tv show where the main audience has been like me – we saw it on the box sets. This may be a very important consideration for future programme makers.
The Wire is obviously great, a wondrous milestone, and is an essential meditation on a timeless human problem, which is the ineradicable desire of people, all people, to get loaded, to get out of their heads, to get enough medicine inside them to settle if only for a fleeting moment their frayed lives, and the equally adamantine determination of their rulers to stop them. If we stuff Bunk and McNulty into appropriate clothes and shove them out of the time machine in the year 1925 it’ll be bootleg whiskey that’s leading the dance, and in 1825 it’ll be opium dens, and in 1725 it’ll be gin shops – in England anyway. In Baltimore in the early 21st century it was heroin and cocaine. In 50 years time the drugs will have changed, they’ll probably be called sploot or glerk and they’ll be made from the scrotum of a particular type of chinchilla rabbit or something else really hard to get hold of, and guess what also, they’ll be ILLEGAL and this illegality will cause the same problems. But that’s really a topic for another review, this one is about The Wire, sixty hours of the best tv made by some of the most self-satisfied smug bastards this side of Simon Cowell.
POSTSCRIPT
I should mention that this is BOOK of which the above is really not a review is itself a very solid effort, good read, good reference, good pix, I liked it, you will too.
ADDENDUM
Stringer’s drive to become completely legit, to move entirely into real estate, echoes Michael Corleone’s vain promise to Kay in Godfather II.
In The Wire real life bled into fictional – bit parts were played by real police, real politicians, rappers, real corner boys, reformed gangsters, and also the show’s own writers and producers.
Ed Burns : Once a police officer aspires to rank – you would think that stopping crime would be the number one priority – crime is so far down the list you can’t even find it.
George Pelecanos : I make my living writing about people who, because of an accident of birth and circumstance, are less fortunate than me…I often say that my mission is to illuminate and dignify their lives…What goes unsaid is the gnawing feeling that I am also exploiting them for my personal gain.
The morality of The Wire is – the good guys do bad stuff all the time but they know it’s bad while they’re doing it. That’s how we know they’re the good guys.
And finally : Snoop, played by Felicia Pearson, is the scariest female villain ever. She haunts my dreams, pursuing me to a vacant, nail gun in hand. Analyse that!
November 11, 2012
This book is the shee-it!
And if you know extactly where that comes from, I hope you are reading this review after you have read the book.
I read an earlier edition of this, and really can't add much to the original review which is .
If you have already read that review, well shee-it, haven't you seen the series yet?
This edition includes some expanded sections from the as well as covering all the seasons - most importantly season 4, which was the best.
Liked the obit for Stringer.
And if you know extactly where that comes from, I hope you are reading this review after you have read the book.
I read an earlier edition of this, and really can't add much to the original review which is .
If you have already read that review, well shee-it, haven't you seen the series yet?
This edition includes some expanded sections from the as well as covering all the seasons - most importantly season 4, which was the best.
Liked the obit for Stringer.
February 17, 2010
The history of television is littered with intelligent product that never got the ratings, acclaim, or chance to achieve the success of the flashy but simplistic C.S.I or Law & Order. One recent example of this would be Southland, which was granted a second chance at life by TNT. Perhaps the greatest under-appreciated show was The Wire, a show that HBO allowed to survive for far longer than any network would have.
Like its forerunners Homicide and The Corner, The Wire forces the viewer to think. Homicide never achieved the success of L&O and C.S.I. The Wire, too, suffered from low ratings. Unlike popular shows, Homicide and The Wire did not follow a strict format or procedural. The body is not found in the first ten minutes, and Horatio (or Willows or Taylor) isn’t always right. In The Wire, especially, ideas and storylines would be developed and showcased over a season or, in a few cases, seasons.
The Wire didn’t require the viewer just to think about the plot but also to think about the issues that impact a city – drugs, crime, police, schools, and politics. The Wire is stark, but it offers more than a simple black and white look at a problem. Drug dealers are bad, but the causes of the drug society are also ruthlessly examined and condemned. Drug addicts are shown with a strong degree of pity and no stereotyping. The police may be good, but they are flowed in terms of character and in terms of power structure. Such contrast is best illustrated by the character of Omar, a stick-up man who is noble, who has his own code, but who also knows what he is – a person who makes a living off of illegal drugs, just like the lawyer questioning him.
L & O may be ripped from the headlines, The Wire offers a more heart breaking and heart rending reality. The death of Wallace in the first season, the death of D’Angelo in the second, the fate Mike, Bubbles’ tragic losses and quiet strength, the death of Omar are of these are based in life, based on lives that do not always make the headlines of the paper, a point driven home at Omar’s death and the paper’s reaction to it.
The Wire never seemed to get the attention it rightly deserved until its last season when everyone seemed to be jumping on the bandwagon, if you will pardon the cliché.
Johnny come lately, Soprano watching suburbnites.
In Philadelphia, Mayor Nutter, a true Wire fan had lottery where the prize was tickets to watch the series finale with the Mayor and stars from the show. Mayor Nutter even wrote an editorial about the show for the local paper. It was a good one too. Then, Mayor Nutter took some heat for his admiration of the show. In fact, one local radio show host asserted that politicians should not watch such “negative” television shows, even mayors and presidents.
Why? Because politicians might actually get good ideas for a change?
What should they watch? The Smurfs and their “magic” mushrooms? Scooby-Doo and the suspect Scooby snacks?
For all its tragedy, for all its harshness, The Wire is important because it is true art that holds a mirror up to reality. It is a modern Dickens. The Wire reflects the modern city and reminds us that life and its problems are not simple.
This book offers a look at the first two seasons of The Wire, which sadly means the fourth, and best, season is not mentioned. The readers gets a behind the scenes view of what went into the show, is treated to profiles and interviews not only with the creative team but with the actual people who inspired the characters. Every plot strand has a basis in reality, and sometimes, like Bubbles, is tragically close to life. Incidentally, the life of the real Bubbles explains why the fictional Bubbles got the ending he did in the last episode.
Secrets are revealed, for instance, why Brother Mouzone’s assistant looks so familiar.
The introduction is by David Simon, one of the creators, and Ed Burns also contributes. Laura Lippman, Simon’s consort, contributed a wonderful essay about women in the show.
If you have never read Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets or The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, do so.
If you have never watched Homicide or The Corner, do so.
If you have never watched The Wire, smack yourself, and then do so.
Then read this book.
Like its forerunners Homicide and The Corner, The Wire forces the viewer to think. Homicide never achieved the success of L&O and C.S.I. The Wire, too, suffered from low ratings. Unlike popular shows, Homicide and The Wire did not follow a strict format or procedural. The body is not found in the first ten minutes, and Horatio (or Willows or Taylor) isn’t always right. In The Wire, especially, ideas and storylines would be developed and showcased over a season or, in a few cases, seasons.
The Wire didn’t require the viewer just to think about the plot but also to think about the issues that impact a city – drugs, crime, police, schools, and politics. The Wire is stark, but it offers more than a simple black and white look at a problem. Drug dealers are bad, but the causes of the drug society are also ruthlessly examined and condemned. Drug addicts are shown with a strong degree of pity and no stereotyping. The police may be good, but they are flowed in terms of character and in terms of power structure. Such contrast is best illustrated by the character of Omar, a stick-up man who is noble, who has his own code, but who also knows what he is – a person who makes a living off of illegal drugs, just like the lawyer questioning him.
L & O may be ripped from the headlines, The Wire offers a more heart breaking and heart rending reality. The death of Wallace in the first season, the death of D’Angelo in the second, the fate Mike, Bubbles’ tragic losses and quiet strength, the death of Omar are of these are based in life, based on lives that do not always make the headlines of the paper, a point driven home at Omar’s death and the paper’s reaction to it.
The Wire never seemed to get the attention it rightly deserved until its last season when everyone seemed to be jumping on the bandwagon, if you will pardon the cliché.
Johnny come lately, Soprano watching suburbnites.
In Philadelphia, Mayor Nutter, a true Wire fan had lottery where the prize was tickets to watch the series finale with the Mayor and stars from the show. Mayor Nutter even wrote an editorial about the show for the local paper. It was a good one too. Then, Mayor Nutter took some heat for his admiration of the show. In fact, one local radio show host asserted that politicians should not watch such “negative” television shows, even mayors and presidents.
Why? Because politicians might actually get good ideas for a change?
What should they watch? The Smurfs and their “magic” mushrooms? Scooby-Doo and the suspect Scooby snacks?
For all its tragedy, for all its harshness, The Wire is important because it is true art that holds a mirror up to reality. It is a modern Dickens. The Wire reflects the modern city and reminds us that life and its problems are not simple.
This book offers a look at the first two seasons of The Wire, which sadly means the fourth, and best, season is not mentioned. The readers gets a behind the scenes view of what went into the show, is treated to profiles and interviews not only with the creative team but with the actual people who inspired the characters. Every plot strand has a basis in reality, and sometimes, like Bubbles, is tragically close to life. Incidentally, the life of the real Bubbles explains why the fictional Bubbles got the ending he did in the last episode.
Secrets are revealed, for instance, why Brother Mouzone’s assistant looks so familiar.
The introduction is by David Simon, one of the creators, and Ed Burns also contributes. Laura Lippman, Simon’s consort, contributed a wonderful essay about women in the show.
If you have never read Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets or The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, do so.
If you have never watched Homicide or The Corner, do so.
If you have never watched The Wire, smack yourself, and then do so.
Then read this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 26, 2010
This book is all about "The Wire", 60 hours of TV spread over 5 years that is, as many before me have said: "The best story ever put on film." It is about inner-city Baltimore the same way "Moby Dick" is about whaling. It looks at drugs, police, docks, politics, schools, journalism, and race in America top to bottom and side to side, with an authenticity, integrity, detail, depth, and bloody honesty usually only associated with the greatest literature. It's as if Charles Dickens, Eldridge Cleaver, August Wilson, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Cormac McCarthy and Martin Scorcese were all Baltimore boys who decided to get together and tell us what American urban society really is about. I learned more about my country from this show than I have from any other single source. Yes, it really is that good.
June 23, 2018
Interesting book about a truly great TV series - some great articles and vignettes - but the recounting of the story of each episode was a little too much
November 2, 2007
I'm a ravenous fan of the HBO series, The Wire, and there's no reason why people should continue to not watch this show. Three seasons are on DVD already, and now this companion book. I picked this one up in a bargain bin. There because its such a niche book that I'm sure it probably only sold well in Baltimore itself. But if you like the show, it's fascinating to learn about all the real life Omars and Prop Joes and superhero lesbian homicide detectives, etc. But, anyway, just watch the show, and then you see why someone in the world would actually want to read a TV show companion book.
February 5, 2013
Really thought this book would give a lot more in-depth behind the scenes of the real life stories behind the show. While at times it offered that it mostly was episode recaps which I found pointless. If you bought a book about the show don't you think you would've known what was in the recaps? The recaps themselves were sort of broad anyway but I can't tell if that's a good thing or not.
The best part of the book is the essay by creator David Simon that opens the book. While other parts were interesting nothing matched the in-depth look into what the essence of the show was about like that one. At times I found the book a little self indulgent. (How many times can you say this wasn't like any other cop show?) the book however did make me want to watch the entire series beginning to end yet again for a third time. Wish the show lived a little longer but with stuff this deep and thought provoking you could find something new every viewing.
The best part of the book is the essay by creator David Simon that opens the book. While other parts were interesting nothing matched the in-depth look into what the essence of the show was about like that one. At times I found the book a little self indulgent. (How many times can you say this wasn't like any other cop show?) the book however did make me want to watch the entire series beginning to end yet again for a third time. Wish the show lived a little longer but with stuff this deep and thought provoking you could find something new every viewing.
July 28, 2011
Not bad but you can't escape a feeling of exploitativeness, and the fact that 25% of the book is index and other tables, cast and crew lists etc, hardly helps. A lot of the writing is pretty lazy. It's acceptable - in context - for The Wire to be full of swear words but not acceptable for this book to be e.g. an episode summary which refers to someone having "fucked up". Just bad writing Mr Alvarez. The interviews and trivia are entertaining enough and there's some good illustrations/photos but the typesetting...! I read this on Kindle and the format kept switching between roman and italic script for no reason at all. Made it unpleasant to read at times. Long stretches of italics completely suck to read and it made me wonder if the typesetters have actually had any training in how to present text? Sort it out and republish it properly!
March 10, 2008
The Wire is over. Long live The Wire.
April 7, 2021
A must-read for any fan of the show. By turns intriguing, funny, and sad, this collection of essays and reflections is packed with excellent details about where the characters come from and how the sausage was made.
The episode summaries are fairly unnecessary, and so maybe this review should lose a star because they're such a large part of the book. But all the other stuff is so engrossing that I just don't feel comfortable giving this less than the max.
Huge thumbs up.
The episode summaries are fairly unnecessary, and so maybe this review should lose a star because they're such a large part of the book. But all the other stuff is so engrossing that I just don't feel comfortable giving this less than the max.
Huge thumbs up.
Read
July 5, 2023Vi The Wire y le agregué este libro al visionado. Veía una temporada y luego me leía el capítulo de esta. Sobre The Wire nada que decir, por algo es una de las series más celebradas de la historia de la tele (si es que no derechamente la más celebrada). Por supuesto que me encantó. Pero del libro hay que decir que guatea harto para su ambición.
El autor es uno de los guionistas de The Wire, entonces no solo se cacha que entiende bien de lo que habla, si no que también se saca buenas papas del proceso de producción de la serie. Digamos que al final el era incluso amigo de David Simon y Ed Burns. El problema está en la propuesta y las decisiones impresas a la hora de plantear el libro.
En el fondo la estructura es: 1 capítulo introductorio con textos de Simon (buenísimo, me dieron ganas de solo leer eso) y luego 5 capítulos grandes divididos para cada temporada. Estos se dividen en una serie de capítulos más pequeños dedicados a algún elemento en particular, a veces relacionado con la temporada misma y otras veces con la serie en general. Por ejemplo, capítulos dedicados a: biografías de actores (o bien el cap va dedicado al personaje), textos de pacos/profesores/sindicalistas de Baltimore, técnicos de la serie, datos sobre la historia de la producción, la historia de abc lugar en específico (el puerto, la universidad, el diario).
Primer gran problema: Esta secuencia de capítulos es más un agregado de lo que realmente usa el mayor porcentaje de páginas: un resumen de cada capítulo.
Algunas veces pienso en hacerme youtuber para hablar sobre libros porque siento que, entre MUCHOS otros, una forma interesante de agarrar el tema es advirtiendo a la gente cómo es realmente el libro que estaban pensando en comprar y luego invertir tiempo y compromiso en su lectura. Precisamente para que no pasen cosas como las que me pasaron a mi leyendo este libro. Por todos lados se habla de "análisis capítulo a capitulo" y pucha, más que análisis es un resumen no más. Y quizás esto no sería tan terrible si no fuera por la naturaleza misma del ser de esta serie.
Me explico, las circunstancias que permitieron que The Wire exista y sea la obra maestra que es, penden del hecho de que es una serie: la historia es una y el equipo de simon/burnes supieron traspasarla al lenguaje de tele. Quedó perfecto. No necesito que alguien me cuente la misma historia a punta de textos con nula literatura, y no lo necesito porq existe una gran serie que me cuenta exactamente la misma historia pero infinitas veces mejor. Se llama, por supuesto, The Wire.
No digo que no se pueda novelizar el lenguaje cinematográfico. Es que de partida esto nisiquiera está novelizado, son resúmenes dignos de imdb pero a veces extendidos hasta unas 5 planas y es simplemente demasiado.
Segundo problema: los capítulos que no son resúmenes desabridos, pucha, no siempre terminan por ser del todo interesantes. No me quiero poner cínico tampoco, hay unos muy atractivos y que sin duda disfruté de leer, sobre todo los que establecen paralelismos con la realidad no-estilizada de Baltimore (por supuesto que como chileno no tengo idea). Es cuática la cantidad de cosas de la serie que efectivamente fueron reales, desde historias hasta planteamientos base. También hay información interesante sobre el proceso de producción en la industria audiovisual.
El tema es que hay unos capítulos que están bien en la intención pero derrepente no dejan de ser lo suficientemente ambiciosos para justificarse. Y fuera del relleno de los resúmenes, me dejó un poco desmotivado el hecho de ver que pasé un libro de 500 páginas sobre THE WIRE (THE WIRE PO WN) y que en verdad el aporte del libro no fuese particularmente sustantivo. No se, me parece una idea, una propuesta y sobre todo una oportunidad editorial un poquitito desperdiciada. Habiendo tanto que desmenuzar y nos fuimos casi siempre por lo anecdótico.
Se que hay un libro llamado "todas las piezas cuentan" y que errata naturae tiene una publicación compilando textos sobre esta serie. Y no sé, espero que sean mejores libros, de hecho, e igual creo que lo más seguro es que sean mejores libros. Supongo que si están trabajados por personas externas a la serie no harán un esfuerzo total por hacer parecer el libro un ejercicio de relaciones públicas (nisiquiera publicidad).
Y esto quizás no tiene tanto que ver con el libro mismo pero ya gente como simon derrepente se empieza a repetir mucho. De hecho, no me dan ganas ni de googlearlo, aún cuando seguramente vea the deuce o we own this city, claramente tiene mi atención. Pero si es por leerlo o escucharlo revolcándose en sus pitch sobre the wire o reforzando la literalidad de su propuesta por milésima vez, en verdad no me interesa. Y este libro es asi.
De hecho, hay una entrevista con nick hornby (justo hace poco igual leí alta fidelidad) y hornby lo intenta empujar pero le cuesta que simon deje de repetir sus historias predeterminadas. Como guionista y productor nada que decir. El resto, quizás demasiado redundante.
Terminé The Wire el viernes y entiendo porq dicen que es LA mejor serie de la historia. Incluso puedo estar completamente de acuerdo. Creo que breaking bad es más un ejercicio de ficción y altas capacidades narrativas, mientras que the wire aún siendo un dramón de muchos personajes y pequeñas tramas, no deja nunca de ser un ensayo y postulado sobre el mundo. Nunca llega a revolcarse en el alto nivel de su presentación de la ficción y el formato que ofrecen los seriales como los conocemos (better call saul). En ese sentido, six feet under se para a la misma altura que the wire pero esa es menos detallista, aunque si digamos que aborda temas más complejos (al menos filosóficamente) y tiene una complejidad en los personajes que the wire nisiquiera atisba.
Los Soprano no la he visto. Bueno igual que paja andar diciendo cuál es mejor o peor, a lo que iba es que nunca sería contrario a la celebración de the wire y por lo mismo, además se la recomiendo 100% a todo el mundo.
Les recomiendo además acompañar el visionado con la lectura de este libro? la verdad es que no mucho. No se gana tanto, por no decir que tan solo unos datos. Por ahí va mi veredicto más valórico.
PD: ahora estoy viendo Twin Peaks de Lynch con Frost y se que hay una publicación de errata naturae esperando. También dos novelizaciones de Frost y un libro oficial con el diario de Laura Palmer. Eso como en los más conocidos, además caché que existen otros 5 (aprox?) libros sobre la serie que se ven, por lo bajo, interesantes. A qué voy con esto? a nada en realidad (por eso es una posdata). Solo que se que seguramente termine leyendo alguna de esas cosas y pucha, espero que sea una experiencia más fascinante que la de la lectura de The Wire: Truth Be Told.
El autor es uno de los guionistas de The Wire, entonces no solo se cacha que entiende bien de lo que habla, si no que también se saca buenas papas del proceso de producción de la serie. Digamos que al final el era incluso amigo de David Simon y Ed Burns. El problema está en la propuesta y las decisiones impresas a la hora de plantear el libro.
En el fondo la estructura es: 1 capítulo introductorio con textos de Simon (buenísimo, me dieron ganas de solo leer eso) y luego 5 capítulos grandes divididos para cada temporada. Estos se dividen en una serie de capítulos más pequeños dedicados a algún elemento en particular, a veces relacionado con la temporada misma y otras veces con la serie en general. Por ejemplo, capítulos dedicados a: biografías de actores (o bien el cap va dedicado al personaje), textos de pacos/profesores/sindicalistas de Baltimore, técnicos de la serie, datos sobre la historia de la producción, la historia de abc lugar en específico (el puerto, la universidad, el diario).
Primer gran problema: Esta secuencia de capítulos es más un agregado de lo que realmente usa el mayor porcentaje de páginas: un resumen de cada capítulo.
Algunas veces pienso en hacerme youtuber para hablar sobre libros porque siento que, entre MUCHOS otros, una forma interesante de agarrar el tema es advirtiendo a la gente cómo es realmente el libro que estaban pensando en comprar y luego invertir tiempo y compromiso en su lectura. Precisamente para que no pasen cosas como las que me pasaron a mi leyendo este libro. Por todos lados se habla de "análisis capítulo a capitulo" y pucha, más que análisis es un resumen no más. Y quizás esto no sería tan terrible si no fuera por la naturaleza misma del ser de esta serie.
Me explico, las circunstancias que permitieron que The Wire exista y sea la obra maestra que es, penden del hecho de que es una serie: la historia es una y el equipo de simon/burnes supieron traspasarla al lenguaje de tele. Quedó perfecto. No necesito que alguien me cuente la misma historia a punta de textos con nula literatura, y no lo necesito porq existe una gran serie que me cuenta exactamente la misma historia pero infinitas veces mejor. Se llama, por supuesto, The Wire.
No digo que no se pueda novelizar el lenguaje cinematográfico. Es que de partida esto nisiquiera está novelizado, son resúmenes dignos de imdb pero a veces extendidos hasta unas 5 planas y es simplemente demasiado.
Segundo problema: los capítulos que no son resúmenes desabridos, pucha, no siempre terminan por ser del todo interesantes. No me quiero poner cínico tampoco, hay unos muy atractivos y que sin duda disfruté de leer, sobre todo los que establecen paralelismos con la realidad no-estilizada de Baltimore (por supuesto que como chileno no tengo idea). Es cuática la cantidad de cosas de la serie que efectivamente fueron reales, desde historias hasta planteamientos base. También hay información interesante sobre el proceso de producción en la industria audiovisual.
El tema es que hay unos capítulos que están bien en la intención pero derrepente no dejan de ser lo suficientemente ambiciosos para justificarse. Y fuera del relleno de los resúmenes, me dejó un poco desmotivado el hecho de ver que pasé un libro de 500 páginas sobre THE WIRE (THE WIRE PO WN) y que en verdad el aporte del libro no fuese particularmente sustantivo. No se, me parece una idea, una propuesta y sobre todo una oportunidad editorial un poquitito desperdiciada. Habiendo tanto que desmenuzar y nos fuimos casi siempre por lo anecdótico.
Se que hay un libro llamado "todas las piezas cuentan" y que errata naturae tiene una publicación compilando textos sobre esta serie. Y no sé, espero que sean mejores libros, de hecho, e igual creo que lo más seguro es que sean mejores libros. Supongo que si están trabajados por personas externas a la serie no harán un esfuerzo total por hacer parecer el libro un ejercicio de relaciones públicas (nisiquiera publicidad).
Y esto quizás no tiene tanto que ver con el libro mismo pero ya gente como simon derrepente se empieza a repetir mucho. De hecho, no me dan ganas ni de googlearlo, aún cuando seguramente vea the deuce o we own this city, claramente tiene mi atención. Pero si es por leerlo o escucharlo revolcándose en sus pitch sobre the wire o reforzando la literalidad de su propuesta por milésima vez, en verdad no me interesa. Y este libro es asi.
De hecho, hay una entrevista con nick hornby (justo hace poco igual leí alta fidelidad) y hornby lo intenta empujar pero le cuesta que simon deje de repetir sus historias predeterminadas. Como guionista y productor nada que decir. El resto, quizás demasiado redundante.
Terminé The Wire el viernes y entiendo porq dicen que es LA mejor serie de la historia. Incluso puedo estar completamente de acuerdo. Creo que breaking bad es más un ejercicio de ficción y altas capacidades narrativas, mientras que the wire aún siendo un dramón de muchos personajes y pequeñas tramas, no deja nunca de ser un ensayo y postulado sobre el mundo. Nunca llega a revolcarse en el alto nivel de su presentación de la ficción y el formato que ofrecen los seriales como los conocemos (better call saul). En ese sentido, six feet under se para a la misma altura que the wire pero esa es menos detallista, aunque si digamos que aborda temas más complejos (al menos filosóficamente) y tiene una complejidad en los personajes que the wire nisiquiera atisba.
Los Soprano no la he visto. Bueno igual que paja andar diciendo cuál es mejor o peor, a lo que iba es que nunca sería contrario a la celebración de the wire y por lo mismo, además se la recomiendo 100% a todo el mundo.
Les recomiendo además acompañar el visionado con la lectura de este libro? la verdad es que no mucho. No se gana tanto, por no decir que tan solo unos datos. Por ahí va mi veredicto más valórico.
PD: ahora estoy viendo Twin Peaks de Lynch con Frost y se que hay una publicación de errata naturae esperando. También dos novelizaciones de Frost y un libro oficial con el diario de Laura Palmer. Eso como en los más conocidos, además caché que existen otros 5 (aprox?) libros sobre la serie que se ven, por lo bajo, interesantes. A qué voy con esto? a nada en realidad (por eso es una posdata). Solo que se que seguramente termine leyendo alguna de esas cosas y pucha, espero que sea una experiencia más fascinante que la de la lectura de The Wire: Truth Be Told.
February 14, 2013
Strengths of the book? Interviews with writers, actors, etc., that one might not be able to find anywhere else. Valuable? Absolutely.
However, the book was weak in some key points. I found the organization frustrating. First, episodes are generally listed by their place in the overall series (ex. Episode 32, 51, etc) as opposed to their location in the season. The only way to know the season beyond recognition is to look at the header. Secondly, interviews and other secondary analyses are interspersed in among the episodes. To a degree this makes sense, such as reading about Stringer Bell after his exit from the show; however, I found this more distracting than useful. Having all the resources grouped in one place would be far more favourable.
I also have some gripes with the writing. I expected more of Alfarez considering his background; however, unclear pronouns and other basic issues were distracting and potentially misleading if I hadn't watched the series fully. I also found his ways of summarising the episodes odd; he would highlight certain scenes, but not more important ones, or only half describe a key quotation, or just have the quotation indirectly cited. The Wikipedia episode summaries are not only more concise, but more accurate in some ways.
Considering the bulk of the text is episode summary (readily available for the most part online or in cheaper texts like Re-up), and in general the text feels roughly written, the benefits of the interviews and other materials, while worthy of praise, don't quite stand up when the text is considered as a whole.
However, the book was weak in some key points. I found the organization frustrating. First, episodes are generally listed by their place in the overall series (ex. Episode 32, 51, etc) as opposed to their location in the season. The only way to know the season beyond recognition is to look at the header. Secondly, interviews and other secondary analyses are interspersed in among the episodes. To a degree this makes sense, such as reading about Stringer Bell after his exit from the show; however, I found this more distracting than useful. Having all the resources grouped in one place would be far more favourable.
I also have some gripes with the writing. I expected more of Alfarez considering his background; however, unclear pronouns and other basic issues were distracting and potentially misleading if I hadn't watched the series fully. I also found his ways of summarising the episodes odd; he would highlight certain scenes, but not more important ones, or only half describe a key quotation, or just have the quotation indirectly cited. The Wikipedia episode summaries are not only more concise, but more accurate in some ways.
Considering the bulk of the text is episode summary (readily available for the most part online or in cheaper texts like Re-up), and in general the text feels roughly written, the benefits of the interviews and other materials, while worthy of praise, don't quite stand up when the text is considered as a whole.
March 15, 2011
"Arguably the greatest television show ever made" - Daily Telegraph.
Fun fact: The worst argument that my boyfriend and I have ever had revolved around just that statement. Having not seen The Wire he argued that Six Feet Under deserved this title. He's wrong.
Comprising of season overviews, full episode guides, articles on major characters and themes, with further background on the political and social reality that informed and influenced the series, this book has been put together by those who worked on the series and it is clear that it was a labour of love.
A must for any Wire-head (like me - I've long stopped believing that these characters are fictional and frequently feel the urge to check in on Bubbles to see that he's still doing OK), though I can't imagine a casual reader would find much to keep them captivated.
Fun fact: The worst argument that my boyfriend and I have ever had revolved around just that statement. Having not seen The Wire he argued that Six Feet Under deserved this title. He's wrong.
Comprising of season overviews, full episode guides, articles on major characters and themes, with further background on the political and social reality that informed and influenced the series, this book has been put together by those who worked on the series and it is clear that it was a labour of love.
A must for any Wire-head (like me - I've long stopped believing that these characters are fictional and frequently feel the urge to check in on Bubbles to see that he's still doing OK), though I can't imagine a casual reader would find much to keep them captivated.
December 8, 2007
This book is an insightful look behind the scenes of HBO's spectacular drama, The Wire. Mr. Alvarez combines terrific interviews with different people around Baltimore, Maryland who have inspired many of the program's distinct characters with articles about various aspects of the show's production and its loyal fan base, compellingly detailed essays about the show's first three seasons and comprehensive episode recaps of seasons one and two. Essays are contributed by reputed authors George Pelecanos, Laura Lippman and others. A wonderful introduction is written by the show's creator, author David Simon. This book could be enjoyed by fans of the show or people who have sworn off television all together! I highly recommend this book which is far more than merely a companion for the show!
December 3, 2020
I am so biased because "The Wire" is my favorite televison show of all time. I could watch nothing but "The Wire" ever again and be completely content. To me, that show is more than just a "tv show" -- it is a portrait of our human reality set in the city of Baltimore, from the street corner drug trade to the ports to the government to the schools to the journalism offices. It's a masterpiece. So of course, this book was like candy to me. I sped through it. It offers outlines and recaps of seasons and episodes but also features behind-the-scenes interviews and essays by writers and other personages involved with "The Wire"'s creation. If you love this show, you will love this book. And if you haven't discovered this show, what are you waiting for?!
January 22, 2022
Great book, with a few flaws.
1. Episode guide often spoils future episodes, so you can’t read it till you’re done watching, which defeats the point. I read it during my second watch of the show, but a season at a time, because reading it an episode at a time spoiled things I didn’t remember from my first watch.
2. For an official book, it has a lot of factual errors, which is odd. Mostly trivial, but still annoying.
But The Wire is one of the best, if not the best, shows ever, and this book is a great way to dig deeper into the show.
1. Episode guide often spoils future episodes, so you can’t read it till you’re done watching, which defeats the point. I read it during my second watch of the show, but a season at a time, because reading it an episode at a time spoiled things I didn’t remember from my first watch.
2. For an official book, it has a lot of factual errors, which is odd. Mostly trivial, but still annoying.
But The Wire is one of the best, if not the best, shows ever, and this book is a great way to dig deeper into the show.
August 16, 2010
Great companion to the series, and the essays and interviews make it far more than an episode guide. A word of warning - there are multiple editions of this book, so if you're looking for a comprehensive guide to The Wire make sure you get the most recent edition, which covers all five seasons.
November 17, 2016
I see almost none of the show that I loved so much reflected in this book, which relies heavily on skimpy episode summaries that do nothing more than recap the major plot points.
March 30, 2015
In the end, it took HBO more than a year to agree to shoot even a pilot.
This book tells the story of "The Wire", which is one of my favourite TV series, ever. It starts with an essay about the nitty grit by David Simon himself, and then goes through every single episode of all five seasons, interspersing mini-essays, interviews and a billion tidbits.
At its worst, I just quickly sifted through the recaps of the episodes, but that's not "worst", it's just good. So, at its best? I think Simon is always interesting to read, not only because The Wire is really a Greek drama as spliced with Shakespeare, but one of the best series ever, due to its tight writing, acting and setting. Even the audio recordings, as detailed in the book, match and often overtake those from books.
The first season of The Wire was a dry, deliberate argument against the American drug prohibition – a Thirty Years’ War that is among the most singular and comprehensive failures to be found in the nation’s domestic history. It is impossible to imagine pitching such a premise to a network television executive under any circumstances. How, he might wonder, do I help my sponsors sell luxury sedans and pre-washed jeans to all the best demographics while at the same time harping on the fact that the American war on drugs has mutated into a brutal suppression of the underclass? The second season of The Wire was even more of a lighthearted romp: a treatise about the death of work and the betrayal of the working class, as exemplified by the decline of a city’s port unions. And how exactly do we put Visa-wielding consumers in a buying mood when they are being reminded of how many of their countrymen – black, white and brown – have been shrugged aside by the march of unrestrained, bottom-line capitalism?
[...]
The show would instead be about untethered capitalism run amok, about how power and money actually root themselves in a postmodern American city, and, ultimately, about why we as an urban people are no longer able to solve our problems or heal our wounds.
Simon attacks both the so-called war against drugs and capitalism, naturally; it's plain to see the money behind the drugs, and behind the rich, white guys in the foreground. It's not Baltimore that's a messy town, it's the money and why they are:
It is a harsh critique, no doubt. But for the most part, we live in this city. By choice. And living here, we see what is happening in Baltimore for better and for worse, and we speak to such things as those with a vested interest in the city’s improvement and survival. Speaking as Baltimoreans, we quite naturally found it appropriate to reference our known world in these stories. But, in fairness, the stories are more universal than this; they resonate not just in West Baltimore, but in East St. Louis, North Philadelphia, and South Chicago. And judging from the continuing reaction to this drama overseas, it seems these stories register as well in cities the writers were in no way contemplating when we began the journey. Perhaps Baltimore isn’t any more screwed up than some other places. If it were the case, then these stories would only have meaning for people here. The Wire depicts a world in which capital has triumphed completely, labor has been marginalized and monied interests have purchased enough political infrastructure to prevent reform. It is a world in which the rules and values of the free market and maximized profit have been mistaken for a social framework, a world where institutions themselves are paramount and every day human beings matter less.
[...]
I imagine, acknowledging my general ignorance, that a story set in London is de facto a London story, applicable nowhere else in the UK in terms of environment. But a story set in Manchester might more easily resonate in Leeds or Liverpool or Newcastle or wherever. We play ourselves as unique, and, in truth, we value that which is genuine to Baltimore, but on another level we come across as Everycity.
Through the book, I learned that a lot of info was from reality. Bubbles, Ziggy, they actually lived.
Ziggy Sobotka was partly based on a South Baltimore legend named Pinky Bannon, who was known to wear a tuxedo to the docks and did indeed bring his pet duck, replete with a diamond-studded collar, to various Locust Point bars, where the bird bellied up with the rest. Pinky was also given to displaying his manhood with gusto: not only did Bannon dress up “Pretty Boy” in a green ribbon every St. Patrick’s Day, he once introduced it into the bell of Al Bates’s saxophone during a show. Bates never missed a beat.
Also, Simon was fortunate and happy to get writers like Lehane, Pelecanos and Price on his hands:
Anyone who has ever read Clockers – which is to the cocaine epidemic of the early 1990s as The Grapes of Wrath is to the Dust Bowl – understands the debt owed to that remarkable book by The Wire. Indeed, the split point-of-view that powers The Wire is a form mastered first in the modern novel, and Price, in his first Dempsey book, proved beyond all doubt how much nuance, truth, and story could exist between the world of the police and the world of their targets.
And what about feminism and The Wire?
The Wire, by contrast, offers a world so starkly masculine that the very title of this essay requires defensive clarification. What women? The dancers bumping and grinding in what my sister once dubbed “the obligatory HBO tittie bar shot”? The bodies on the dock in Season Two, a veritable pile of double-X chromosome MacGuffins? The first season of The Wire had only two female actors billed in the opening credits; Season Two, just three. Yet the full list of Wire women is, in fact, long and varied. And while the roster may appear yawningly familiar at first glance – the cop, the prosecutor, the wife, the ex-wife, the mother, the girlfriend, the stripper, the corpse – The Wire’s writers have provided some welcome subtlety within these archetypes. Take Shakima Greggs, the narcotics detective played by Sonja Sohn, the most prominent female in Wire-world. Smart, tough, and hardworking, Greggs seemed almost too admirable in the early going – it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Super-Lesbian! One cynical critic even predicted that the writers would make Greggs the show’s heroine, allowing her to crack the case while her less competent partners were undone by their het-male peccadilloes. Instead, she ended up sidelined by a gunshot wound well before the Barksdale case reached its climactic anticlimax in Season One. The last glimpse we had of Greggs was on a walker, thumping her way down a hospital corridor, far from the action she craved. When the second season began, Greggs was deskbound against her will – and on the receiving end of some surprising advice. “If you were a man – and in some ways, you’re a better man than most of the men I know – a friend would take you for a beer and tell you the truth,” advised Herc, a colleague not usually known for his interpersonal insights. “You’re whipped.”
[...]
Through the first two seasons, only one woman, Joy Lusco Kecken, wrote for The Wire, and only three episodes were directed by women. There are strong women behind the scenes every day – most notably executive producer Nina Kostroff Noble, director of photography Uta Briesewitz, and producer Karen L. Thorson – but no women are involved in hammering out the stories, even as The Wire has continued to add first-rate novelists to its staff. So, like it or not, we must credit men with these human-scale portraits. Yes, many of the women in The Wire appear in secondary roles, but that is a simple truth about the world it portrays – and the point of view through which it is filtered. Instead of giving us Women with a capital W, it showcases flawed human beings who happen to be women. It may be frustrating, but it is never boring or unbelievable.
About the ever-loveable Bubbles:
As for Bubbles, Royo said: “I was intimidated when they asked me to play a street junkie; when you’ve never done drugs like that, you don’t want to be a cliché. “At first I was a little superior to the role, thinking a junkie was different from people addicted to other things, thinking they were bad people … When I’d see junkies begging on the subway in New York they got on my nerves. “But I went out of my way to meet some of them … to try and find a common thread I could hang on, but I found there isn’t one. The drug affects everyone in different ways; they’re human beings and most of them were just happy to talk to someone trying to depict them as human beings.” Over the course of The Wire’s five seasons, junkies in Baltimore – where heroin has been entrenched since as far back as the 1930s – came to see Bubbles as their very human hero. Enjoying a dinner of meatloaf and mashed potatoes at a restaurant co-owned by his wife Jane – Canele in the Atwater Village neighborhood – Royo said street addicts hanging around the on-location sets of The Wire often came to his trailer between shots. “They’d give me pointers, like how a junkie would never throw a half-smoked cigarette away. So I went to the director and said, ‘We gotta do that one again.’” After the day’s shooting was over, however, Andre would clean up, change his clothes and hop in a car. A Teamster would drive him back home, leaving Bubbles behind until the next day’s call. “The junkies would see that and it would hurt them,” said Royo. “One of them said, ‘I wish it was that easy.’”
[...]
The real Bubbles carried his role with pride. “I’m a watcher,” said Bubbles a month before his death from AIDS, gaunt face bobbing, one of his dark, stick legs stretched over a table in a rowhouse apartment on Harlem Avenue in Northwest Baltimore. “I can watch people and tell things about them. I can look at a face and remember it. I would go round a-rabbing, or in my truck, or I’d ride my bicycle even, and all the time, I’d be seeing what’s up.” When Bubbles sussed that something was up, it was up. His information led some 500 escapees back to prison. “Always dead-on,” said a homicide detective at the time. “If he told me right now to go kick in a door, I’d kick in that door.”
[...]
DS: Ed, who do you miss?
EB: I miss Bubbles. He was my informant and he was an amazing guy. When I left, I turned Bubbles over to guys who didn’t respect him. They didn’t like him because Bubbles made them work. Bubbles would call and say, “There’s an escapee out here,” and they’d go, “Hey, it’s lunchtime.” I’d have to go out to Bubbles and take money out of my pocket because they’d been cheating him.
And the music?
After waiting years for a soundtrack to The Wire, fans can hit the button on two separate discs of songs from the show. Released by Nonesuch Records, The Wire: … and all the pieces matter, intersperses dialogue from the show with 23 songs – from “What You Know About Baltimore” by Ogun featuring Phathead to “The Body of An American” by the Pogues. It also includes the first four versions of “Way Down in the Hole,” but not Earle’s, which appears on Washington Square Serenade. The companion disc is Beyond Hamsterdam: Baltimore Tracks From The Wire. The final track on … and all the pieces matter, is the oddly soothing, atmospheric instrumental that meanders toward silence as the final credits roll. Titled “The Fall,” it was composed by Wire music director, Blake Leyh, who has followed Simon to the New Orleans Treme project. Decidedly not on either soundtrack are these gems: “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl),” the 1972 hit by Looking Glass, played on a beat-up radio in the stevedores’ pier-side shack as Frank Sobotka worries about a can of contraband languishing on the docks. The Tokens singing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (the “whimaway” song) as Jimmy McNulty and his two boys follow Stringer Bell through a city market. Nor sadly, is Gram Parsons’ “Streets of Baltimore,” which Bunk Moreland suffered through on a night of drinking with McNulty. Or the plaintive work of Lucinda Williams, which plays quietly as city prosecutor Rhonda Pearlman is stuck at home with paperwork. But there is “Sixteen Tons,” the Merle Travis song sent to No. 1 in 1955 by Tennessee Ernie Ford and barrel-housed in Season Two by the Nighthawks of Washington, D.C. Said former ’hawks guitarist Pete Kanaras of the day the band was filmed live at the Clement Street Bar: “My favorite moments occurred during a break … George Pelecanos came over and said, ‘You must be the Greek!’ “And a crew member came over to take pictures of my shoes – cordovan red Fluevog Buicks. She said they were badass!”
[...]
While making The Wire pilot, David Simon and Bob Colesberry deliberated for weeks about which song – and, just as importantly, by whom – would best serve the show as its theme. “Songs can be on point, but only up to a point,” said Simon. “A lot of different things I listen to are like that, but all of Tom Waits is like that … never on point but they lend themselves cinematically. “He’s painting pictures in those songs and they’re never linear. At least they haven’t been for a long time.” With Tom as the early favorite, Simon began playing the Waits catalog for Colesberry in search of “the mood of a broken world.” “Way Down in the Hole,” off the 1987 album Frank’s Wild Years, emerged as an early contender. “We kept listening to it over and over again, and at some point somebody handed me a copy of a CD by the Blind Boys of Alabama doing a lot of gospel stuff with rock-and-roll origins,” said Simon. “At this point I was arguing for John Hammond’s version of ‘Get Behind the Mule.’” The lyrics to “Mule” – from the 2001 Wicked Grin album of Waits covers by Hammond – speak to getting up every morning, getting behind the mule, and going out to plow, a primitive take on the rat race. But the Blind Boys ultimately carried the day with “Way Down in the Hole,” Simon swayed by “the African-American voices” charting Waits’s sensibility. In seeking permission to use the song, Simon did not have the honor of speaking with one of his heroes. “He wanted to see some episodes first to know how it was going to be used,” said Simon. “We sent him a bunch of tapes and didn’t hear anything for weeks.” Finally, post-production chief Karen Thorson got in touch and Waits explained that he hadn’t gotten around to watching the show because he didn’t know how to operate the family VCR. He assured Thorson that “my wife will be home soon and she knows how to work it.” “The next day,” said Simon. “He approved it.”
As I stated, tidbits everywhere... Here's one on Omar's whistle:
On The Wire, Omar the stickup artist often announced his presence by whistling the “The Farmer in the Dell” nursery rhyme. What none but a few know, however, is that the ominous whistle belongs not to the man who made the shotgun-toting assassin one of the most feared villains in television history, but a 57-year-old Maryland woman named Susan Allenback. Michael K. Williams, for all of his many talents, cannot whistle. “My claim to fame,” said Allenback, a founder of Women in Film and Video of Maryland who had bit parts in the films Syriana and John Waters’s A Dirty Shame. “At one of the first looping sessions, someone asked if I could whistle. I said yes and they showed me footage of Omar walking through a deserted street at night, carrying a sawed-off shotgun … whistling to let people know they should clear the way because someone was going down.” Allenback whistled in sync with William’s feeble attempt and sound editor Jen Ralston lined it up flawlessly. Said Allenback: “I always loved the fact that my white middle-aged woman alter ego was a badass black homosexual criminal!”
The most focused peek into Omar’s soul was provided midway through Season Two by Omar himself. In the harsh light of a courtroom, Omar willingly testifies against a Barksdale-employed sociopath named Marquis “Bird” Hilton. For the court, Omar identifies Bird as the man who murdered a man named Gant, a state witness whose death launched the arc of Season One. Bird was, in fact, the shooter of Gant, but whether Omar was there to witness the murder is in question. Armed with enough accurate information about the slaying to make the accusation stick, Omar is on the stand not on behalf of Gant but to avenge the death of his lover. With customary arrogance, the Barksdale organization’s house lawyer Maurice Levy tries to chip away at the credibility and nerve of Omar, who has just given his job description to the court. “I robs drug dealers.” At last Levy thinks he’s making a dent, reiterating, “So you rob drug dealers.” “Yes, sir.” “You walk the streets of Baltimore with a gun, taking what you want, when you want it … willing to use violence when your demands aren’t met?” Omar nods yes, and Levy describes him as someone who would, if he was in the mood, “shoot a man down on a housing project parking lot and then lie to the police about it.” Omar takes offense: “I ain’t never put my gun on no citizen.” “You are feeding off the violence and the despair of the drug trade … stealing from those who themselves are stealing the lifeblood from our city … a parasite …” “Just like you, man.” “Excuse me?” sputters Levy. “I got the shotgun, you got the briefcase.” Neither shotgun nor briefcase could protect Omar near the end of the final season when, limping into a convenience store while on the hunt for Marlo, the legend’s final words are spoken through bullet-proof glass to an Asian cashier. “Gimme a pack of Newports … soft pack.” Silence and a pause. “Let me get one of them too …” BANG! Blood and brain splatter against the thick plastic. The Korean grocer screams and the knees of an assassin no more than 12 years old knock as young David shakes before the fallen Goliath. “I’m glad Omar went the way he did,” said Williams. “I’ve met kids in Baltimore who were straight-up assassins.”
[...]
When death comes for Omar, the story of one of the most feared killers in the history of Baltimore doesn’t make the paper because no reporter is familiar enough with life in the ghetto to know that the sun has set on a legend.
Also, Dennis Lehane on Omar's death:
“One place where David [Simon] and I have always been particularly simpatico is in making people die over stupid shit. We both get really geeked up over that,” said Lehane, who also wrote the scene of Omar’s death at the hands of a 12-year-old while buying a pack of cigarettes. “There’s zero nobility in it,” he said. “That’s the street.”
More tidbits:
McNulty is “the kind of guy you’d want at your bachelor party but you couldn’t trust at the wedding reception.”
Smart, cocky, and hopelessly self-destructive, Jimmy McNulty is probably the most realistic functional alcoholic ever to appear on television. There is no sanctimony or sentimentality in The Wire’s depiction of McNulty’s alcoholism, no “my name is Jimmy and I’m an alcoholic” moment.
McNulty’s drunkard’s pride and sense of superiority are the character’s defining traits, a guy who always thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room, David Simon has said.
All in all, as far as I know, this is the definitive word on The Wire, unless Simon, Burns or somebody else high-up in the echelons of power decide to publish something. But all in all, this is about as hard-boiled as you will get with the series. Go forth, buy this and prosper further in The Wire.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 31, 2023
This four star review is only for fans of The Wire. For everyone else this is probably a two- or three-star read at best. This book is a great bit of reading for fans of the best television show made perhaps ever. It’s a shame it’s bogged down by a pretty unnecessary episode by episode recap, but this approach keeps the reader’s mind present in the plot and characters and themes of the show in a way that segues perfectly into the real reason to read it: the various essays, interviews, and other reporting and stories that add context and insight into the show. Whether it’s co-creator David Simon sketching out his grand Greek drama ambitions, show writers and authors offering reflections on why and how the show came to be, unique interviews with cast and crew reflecting on the show, and other rare glimpses “behind the scenes” of this show that help fans of this work understand the myriad talents that somehow coalesced to make it happen. It’s all much more substantial and insightful than the book’s subtitle—“the complete official series guide”—would lead you to believe. And despite this book coming out not long after the show completed its on-air run, I found it significantly more revelatory and entertaining than the unedited, rambling and unfocused “inside story” we got more recently by Jonathan Abrams in [title:All The Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire].
September 8, 2025
Since I recently rewatched all five seasons of The Wire, I figured it was time to start to finally read the books I've accumulated about the series. This one was released in between Seasons 2 and 3, as an official HBO tie-in, once they realized the series was a success. The bulk of the book is made up of episode recaps and photos, with a bunch of sidebar pieces mixed in. These sidebars are 2-3 page essays from a bunch of the show's creators, as well as brief backgrounders on some of the actors and some of the real people who inspired the characters. The heftiest part is probably the introduction by David Simon, which lays out the origin story of the series. At this point, there's really no reason to seek this out -- especially when there's Jonathan Abraham's 2018 book, All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire which is a far more comprehensive account assembled from deep interviews with everyone involved in all five seasons.
June 29, 2020
I think I was expecting something more educational. I thought that the bulk of it would be about real Baltimore institutions and people which inspired the show. The chapters themselves read more like Wikipedia plot summaries than creator commentary, and the inlaid blurbs were definitely the best part of the book for me. But there was just enough discussion in those about the cast and crew to leave me frustrated that there wasn't more emphasis on the subject matter of the show. I came in wanting to learn about Baltimore and to more deeply explore the show's themes/ideas, and I feel like I came away with some trivia.
May 16, 2018
I did a re-reading of this book, to augment my re-watching of the series. My ultimate goal was to read the newer "All the Pieces Matter" book on the Wire, but I was too foggy on the details, thus this refresh.
This book is a very good companion to the series. Presented in episode order; with meaty articles and episode synopses alternating chapters, this book gives the extra level of understanding to one of the greatest TV series ever put on screen.
Best watching companion book in my opinion, although is the only one I've read.
This book is a very good companion to the series. Presented in episode order; with meaty articles and episode synopses alternating chapters, this book gives the extra level of understanding to one of the greatest TV series ever put on screen.
Best watching companion book in my opinion, although is the only one I've read.
February 2, 2019
It was great having this book on hand as I went through the series for the first time. It had a bunch of insight that I appreciated not having to Google. However I gave it a 3 because...
1. Straight up inaccuracies (saying things happen a different way than in the show, attributing things to the wrong characters, misquoting what was said
2. Sprinkling essays in with the episode reviews so I inadvertantly read a bunch of spoilers
3. Typos. Sloppy typos
1. Straight up inaccuracies (saying things happen a different way than in the show, attributing things to the wrong characters, misquoting what was said
2. Sprinkling essays in with the episode reviews so I inadvertantly read a bunch of spoilers
3. Typos. Sloppy typos
June 8, 2023
Dated companion to the first three seasons of "The Wire." It did have a few interesting essays and interviews but was largely compiled of episode summaries from the first three seasons, which I skimmed. (I had just re-watched the entire series).
It has a few new nuggets of information, but the more recent "All the pieces matter" is a much more updated read. Still, worthwhile to any fan of "The Wire."
It has a few new nuggets of information, but the more recent "All the pieces matter" is a much more updated read. Still, worthwhile to any fan of "The Wire."
December 11, 2019
Read alongside re-watching the show. And yes, The Wire, is the best TV show ever. The episode re-cap is a little defunct after you watch an episode, and does sometimes gloss over plot lines, but does have the occasional insight or behind the scenes line. The essays about the show, charters, actors, and the real history that informed the show, is the most interesting.
March 3, 2022
Ich denke der Episodenguide hätte von mehr Einteilung profitiert, wie z.B. Kurzzusammenfassung, Best-of-Dialog, Hintergrundinfo, etc., so ist die ganze Handlung einfach durchgeschrieben, was nicht schlecht gemacht ist, aber dennoch etwas ermüdet. Die eingestreuten Interviews sind ein Mixed Bag und liegen zwischen sehr bis okay interessant.
Insgesamt hab ich mir etwas mehr versprochen.
Insgesamt hab ich mir etwas mehr versprochen.
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