The Essential Sopranos Reader

by David Lavery (Editor), Douglas L. Howard (Editor), Paul Levinson (Editor)

The Sopranos is recognized as the most successful cable series in the history of television. The Washington Post has called the popular series, winner of twenty-one Emmys and five Golden Globes, "the television landmark that leaves other landmarks in the dust." In every aspect—narrative structure, visual artistry, writing, intertextuality, ensemble acting, controversial themes, dark humor, and unflinching examinations of American life—The Sopranos has had few equals. Offering a definitive final assessment of the series, The Essential Sopranos Reader aims to comprehensively examine the show's themes and enduring cultural significance. Gender and ethnicity, the role of dreams, the rebirth of HBO, the series' controversial finale, and other topics come under scrutiny in this highly accessible, engaging collection. The book concludes with an interview with Dominic Chianese, who played Uncle Junior in all six seasons of the show.

404 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read about 1/2 of this book, choosing chapters that seemed interesting and skipping those that didn't. After quitting a Sopranos and Philosophy book, this was much more my style: less cliche and cutesy, but still digs in significantly to the world of the family without getting too tangential and navel-gazing by the writers.
The most interesting section was the reflections on the finale and ending of the series. The four authors of this section all end up in basically the same place but take different approaches to how and why the series ended as it did. For people like myself who really like closure, it was good to read about the importance of the non-closure of the finale. David Chase seemed quite intentional to end the series in the way he did, which was maddening but excellent.
I would definitely recommend the Reader to any one who considers themselves a big Sopranos fan (if you can find the book, I am fortunate to have a univ library at my fingertips!). While it looks like a very scholarly book, it is fairly accessible, considering you have watched the entire series. No insights that blew me away, but great for giving me just a bit more of the Sopranos after being left wanting more by the show itself.

[Michael Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book takes on a fascinating TV show (Sopranos), combines it with fascinating social and psychological topics (sexism, racism, food, dreams, etc.), and then spends 400+ pages chasing its own tail. Each new topic/writer has a thrilling headline that suggests you're about to read something mind-blowing. And then with each new sentence, your heart drops.

It was like every writer presented a big old shiny balloon to the reader and then slowly, painfully, infuriatingly deflated it with each new thesaurus word and empty concept. There are some sentences so long that it sounds like a high school student trying to pad a term paper with big words just to get it done. You could almost feel the writer thinking, "I referenced 3 gangster movies, 4 literary classics, 2 pop songs, and 3 scientific studies in this sentence. This is really gonna blow 'em away."

Ultimately, this book addresses nearly every imaginable Sopranos topic out there but somehow manages to say nothing at all.