Mad Men Carousel: The Complete Critical Companion

by Matt Zoller Seitz, Megan Abbott (Foreword), Max Dalton (Illustrations)

Mad Men Carousel is an episode-by-episode guide to all seven seasons of AMC's Mad Men . This book collects TV and movie critic Matt Zoller Seitz’s celebrated Mad Men recaps —as featured on New York magazine's Vulture blog—for the first time, including never-before-published essays on the show’s first three seasons. Seitz’s writing digs deep into the show’s themes, performances, and filmmaking, examining complex and sometimes confounding aspects of the series. The complete series—a ll seven seasons and ninety-two episodes—is covered.

Each episode review also includes brief explanations of locations, events, consumer products, and scientific advancements that are important to the characters, such as P.J. Clarke’s restaurant and the old Penn Station; the inventions of the birth control pill, the Xerox machine, and the Apollo Lunar Module; the release of the Beatles’ Revolver and the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds ; and all the wars, protests, assassinations, and murders that cast a bloody pall over a chaotic decade.
Mad Men Carousel is named after an iconic moment from the show’s first-season finale, “The Wheel,” wherein Don delivers an unforgettable pitch for a new slide projector that’s centered on the idea of “the pain from an old wound.” This book will soothe the most ardent Mad Men fan’s nostalgia for the show. New viewers, who will want to binge-watch their way through one of the most popular TV shows in recent memory, will discover a spoiler-friendly companion to one of the most multilayered and mercurial TV shows of all time.

It's the perfect gift for Mad Men fans and obsessives.

Also available from Matt Zoller The Oliver Stone Experience , The Wes Anderson Bad Dads , The Wes Anderson The Grand Budapest Hotel , and The Wes Anderson Collection .

Genres: Nonfiction, Tv, Film, Pop Culture, Essays, Reference, The United States Of America

464 pages, Hardcover

First published November 10, 2015

Reviews

[Violeta · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect companion book for die-hard fans of the series who are probably binge watching these days, ever since Netflix announced that it’s going to stop streaming it in June.
I’ve been doing just that and the book has decidedly enhanced the pleasure. I think that Madmen is so much more than an intellectualized soap opera; it often borders on a lyrical Cheever-esque novel, heavy on symbolism and allusions. This book does a great job at pointing them out and offering the author’s thoughts on the complicated relationships and behaviors of heroes that are as obscure and multifaceted as those of any good novel.
I was reading the chapters (that are rich in details even the most careful viewer is likely to miss) as I was proceeding with the episodes. Although I didn’t always agree with the author’s viewpoint it was nice to see the show through different eyes and it felt like having a virtual conversation with a fellow viewer. And that is half the fun of watching a show - or reading a book, for that matter!

[Gabrielle (Reading Rampage) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to begin re-watching "Mad Men" on a whim a few weeks ago (it's hard, waiting for the next season of "The Handmaid's Tale", "American Gods" and "Rick and Morty"...); for those who have never paid attention to the show, it's easy to re-watch because it is so saturated with details that there is no way you can take it all in a single viewing. Maybe I'm letting my analytical mind get the best of me when it comes to what is arguably my favorite TV show, but every detail of each episode is deliberate and demands attention.

That's exactly what "Mad Men Carousel" does: Matt Zoller Seitz collected his reviews and analysis of each episode and packaged them neatly, complete with footnotes, end notes regarding how details tie in to future episodes and a timeline of the events of the show against historical events, so that maniacs such as myself could indulge in our obsession and dig deep into the themes, social commentaries, character evolution and cinematography of the show.

I was happy to see the book wasn't just gushing fan-wanking: Seitz is very fair, calling good episodes good and being honest about the lackluster ones and why they are not as good as others. He's also very honest about the way "Mad Men" tiptoed around certain subjects, like racism and civil rights (the show only ever makes lukewarm attempts at diversity). I did find that the book could have also used more detailed profiles of some of the main characters: we get them, but fragmented through the book, and I would have liked them arranged more cohesively. A few pictures wouldn't have hurt either.

I think this book is made for rabid fans, and that casual watchers of the show are less likely to want that deep dive into patterns, symbolism and character psychology. But the complexity and sophistication of "Mad Men" was a hook for me from the very first episode I watched, so I ate up this huge companion book with gluttony. It made the re-watching a much richer experience with all the extra background information and ideas bouncing around my head as I watched.

[Sine · Rating 5 out of 5]

mad men, bence gelmiş geçmiş en güzel dizi. ortalama üstü bir diziden aldığım keyif, verdiği mutluluk vesaire mad men izlerken yaşadığım şeylerin yanına bile yaklaşamaz. mad men izlerken bir dizi izler gibi değil, bir roman okur gibi hissediyorum. çok katmanlı, çok derin, çok yoğun; her izleyişinizde farklı bir tat, yeni bir anlam buluyorsunuz. asla eskimiyor. anlattığı şeyler hem çok kişisel, hem çok evrensel. sabaha kadar mad men övebilirim. sevip sevmediğine göre insanları değerlendirdiğim az sayıda eserden biri mad men.

tabi bu kitabın değerlendirmesi olması gerektiği için birazcık da ona değineyim. kitap, bölüm bölüm ilerliyor; her bölüm için "recap" yazmışlar. nadiren izlerken düşündüğüm şeye hiç değinilmediği oldu, onun dışında çok kapsamlı, dipnotları, açıklamaları çok doyurucu. bu diziyi zevkle izleyen birinin bu kitabı okumaktan keyif almayacağını düşünemiyorum.

ben diziyi 3. sezondan itibaren yayınlandıkça seyrettiğim için haliyle biraz kopukluk oldu. bittikten sonra sevdiğim bazı bölümleri ve bazen de aradan rastgele bölüm açıp izlesem de son bir yılda yaptığım gibi peş peşe hiç izlememiştim. bu zaten başlı başına büyük bir keyifken, kitabın eşlik etmesi de harika bir deneyime dönüştürdü. diziyi izleyip sevenlere zaten şiddetle tavsiye ederim, izlemeyenler için ise şunu söylemem lazım: geleceğe yönelik yorumlarını endnote olarak sona saklamışlar, spoiler yeme korkusuyla okumaktan çekinmenize gerek yok.

[Leslie Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved, loved, LOVED this companion piece to the AMC television series MAD MEN. But then again, I was (am) and major fan of MAD MEN; that said, you have to *like* the series to like this book. Each episode is dissected in close approximation, reading that is so in-depth psychologically and structurally that you just feel like you've fallen into the pages, ahem, the set of the show.

MAD MEN is one of those series that is rich in literary comparisons, it's smart, it's fun, it's flawed, it's diverse and unsettling. This companion book tells you why. It leaves you pondering the episodes you've seen before, perhaps even wishing to watch them again, to talk to others about it, and well...it does everything a good book show do: it enriches your experiences.

For all of my reviews, including author interviews, please see: www.leslielindsay.com

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a die hard fan of this TV show, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The episode recaps delve into historical details and other extras. It was like watching the series all over again. Highly recommend. This would be a great holiday gift for a Mad Men lover.

[Eugenio Gomez-acebo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mad Men es una serie extraordinaria. Las andanzas de Don Drapper, creativo de Sterling Cooper, recorren una época turbulenta de los Estados Unidos. Todos los personajes se ven afectados por el paso del tiempo, las modas y las visicitudes, en un viaje hacia el interior del alma de Don. No hay buenos y malos, todos tienen esa cualidad humana que los hace reales. Además tiene muchos aspectos clavados sobre el mundo de la publicidad y las agencias, sobre la vida corporativa, el papel de la mujer, las adicciones, la evolución de los valores de una sociedad, etc. Y además es divertida.

Este libro te ilumina cada capítulo con reflexiones sobre el propio capítulo, sobre la época, los personajes y sus trayectorias. Te abre la mente a considerar puntos de vista y opiniones diferentes. En este sentido es como un microscopio que descubre detalles inadvertidos. Una máquina de rayos x que descubre nuevas capas. Un foco que realza los colores y las sombras.

Para fans de la serie a los que les interese profundizar en este mundo.

[t]

As if I'm not completely busy, and already reading too many books, I've decided to re-watch Mad Men, and am going to read this book as I go through the episodes. I'm going to try and limit myself to one episode per day, since I truly do have way too much shit going on. I think two years has been a sufficient amount of distance for a re-watch. I'm so excited.

[Cassie Rauch]

thoughtful readings of every episode of the best show of all time - every mad men stan should own this book. if you have never watched mad men, im begging you to buy this book and watch the show - i will watch it with you :)

[Michael Sunderland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anti-binge watching. This is how I watched Mad Men: slowly, very slowly, over the course of a year plus. Instead of that rapid fire binge, I would watch an episode maybe once or twice a week or so, and I would always love to read reviews and analysis after each episode. I developed this habit from watching shows like The Wire, The Sopranos, and Breaking Bad, but Mad Men Carousel was one of the first critical companions of a show that I bought and read.

Each episode has a brief analysis, usually about 2 or 3 pages or so. These aren't point by point episode summaries like many websites offer. Instead, Zoller Seitz focuses on a particular angle for each episode and weaves in different storylines through the lens of that specific angle or theme. These episode analyses deepened by appreciation of Mad Men, so much that I looked forward to reading an analysis afterwards just as much as watching the episode. The author frequently noticed elements and patterns that had escaped me on my viewing. The nuances of Mad Men and its attention to historical and fashion detail definitely warrant such a book. His writing style is easy to read and never boring, and the book contains informative footnotes as well as endnotes that link together episode events and character development.

I highly recommend this book, especially if you are watching Mad Men for the first time. I'm sure the show warrants repeat viewings (although I will be holding off on that for a while), so it would be a worthwhile purchase if you plan on re-watching the show. You can make do with free online episode reviews and summaries, but I feel this book is worth it due to its richness and thoroughness. I am looking forward to Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall's forthcoming TV (The Book), in which they rank the best American TV shows.

[Desiree · Rating 2 out of 5]

At the back of this book is a timeline of the 1960's that places each episode of Mad Men amongst notable events and dates, giving the reader a better understanding of the passage of time between episodes and seasons. I enjoyed resources and insights such as those and how much it expanded my understanding of the characters reactions to events of historical significance. This book was poorly edited, however, and I don't make that accusation lightly. There are many pages worth of end notes at the back of the book in addition to the many footnotes that appear at the bottom of the pages. There were so many errors in these notes that it made me question the validity of the contributing critics and their knowledge of the show. Mixing up character's names, events, and occasionally an end note marking that didn't actually have an end note in the back. I felt like a good review would have caught most of these! Overall, I enjoyed taking my time reading an episode review and then re-watching the series little by little.

[Ron · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hundreds of pages of virtue signalling and leftist analysis of Mad Men. The world actually needs more Don Drapers.

Regardless of ideology, in depth analysis of Mad Men isn't a bad idea if done right. The whole premise here is that those were the bad old days, and things are much better now. Dare to question that and look out.

The Nixon/Kennedy episode analysis was the worst. Pretentious nonsense, badly written.

[Moritz Mueller-Freitag · Rating 5 out of 5]

The period drama Mad Men is a prime example of how great art is a gift that keeps on giving. With every rewatch, I’ve discovered a new layer of themes, patterns, and symbolism that had previously escaped me. It’s an incredibly rich show that rewards repeat viewing.

In a recent fit of lockdown boredom, I revisited the series once again while reading Matt Zoller Seitz’s fantastic companion book Mad Men Carousel. The author digs deep into the show’s recurring themes and the complex psychology of the characters. Above all, he demonstrates that Mad Men is far more than just a nostalgic tale about a Madison Avenue advertising firm in the 1960s. It’s a show that uses advertising and sixties history primarily to explore the interiors of its characters and the mythology of the American Dream. To quote the author:

“The show’s appeal is not solely or even mostly rooted in nostalgia for its time and place. That’s not to say that the time and place aren’t important: Weiner’s show is set in New York City and its suburbs in the sixties, a time of social, sexual, and political upheaval. But all that is [a] mere means to Mad Men’s ends. The main draw is behavior, observed with such exactness that one can imagine the show transported to the forties or eighties—with different clothes, slang, and inebriants—and still delivering the same basic satisfaction. Mad Men would still be Mad Men, because the show isn’t about history. It’s about mystery—specifically the mystery of the human personality.”

Highly recommended to both ardent fans and first-time viewers!

[Stewart Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this companion periodically over the last few months while I rewatched Mad Men, one of the best shows of all time. And wow - it was like an entirely new experience. The show is so densely layered and thoughtfully written, and this book really gets at the heart of what makes it so unique and ambitious. Not only did I catch hundreds of new references throughout my rewatch, I also came to appreciate episodes that I previously didn't care about very much, and I gained a much deeper understanding of the philosophy behind the writing. And this isn't just some Bible for hardcore fans - Matt Zoller Seitz isn't afraid to criticize the show, sometimes harshly. I'm so glad I picked this up; it was like having a friend with me to analyze every episode.

[Elizabeth Addison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m so glad I had these essays along with me while I watched Mad Men: it’s such an analytical and literary show and it was wonderful to be able to meditate on all the symbolism in each episode. I was brought to tears many times, especially in the last few essays.

[Elizabeth Schaefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I throughly enjoyed this book even if maybe I didn’t fully agree with some of the interpretations. There were some misunderstandings of things, but the book is really fantastic and the author clearly loves and respects Mad Men as much it deserves! The amount of research is deeply impressive and extensive and incredibly fascinating!! It truly earned 5 stars

[Jinjer · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

I read the corresponding chapter in the book after watching each episode. I'm sure I'll do a rewatch of the series some day and, when I do, I think it would be good to read the chapter first and then watch the corresponding episode. Why? Because the book describes various camera shots and other interesting film-making stuff that I totally missed. For the re-watch, I would know what to keep an eye out for. I already know the plot and how it all ends so I wouldn't be worried about spoilers.
---------------------------------------

People read certain episodic reviewers because they want to have a virtual conversation with somebody who's as obsessed with a show as they are. They read multiple reviews of the same TV episode because they want to see the same show through different eyes.

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

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

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

[Rasheed Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hope she knows you only like the beginnings of things.

I've watched through the series twice while also reading the Vulture episode companion articles, and both Mad Men and the Sopranos are probably as good as TV is gonna get, unfortunately. Or at least for the time being until the pendulum swings out of oppressed victim identity demagoguery. Oh! And out of that ugly dark, high-sheen, high-contrast Netflix-show camera lens that somehow manages to make real-life look like a Pixar movie. I mean, sure, a few bores with rods stuck up their overdue-for-a-prostate-exam butts will call Mad Men glossy Feminine Mystique propaganda, to whom I'd respond, "Shoo, fly! Shoo!"

The wit in the dialogue of these two shows still has my head spinning. If you don't want to intervene on your junkie friend after this clip, I don't know what to tell you. And if you don't want to be said junkie friend after this clip, well. I guess that's why God made alphas and betas, didn't He.

As for the essays, they're okay for the most part. They definitely help as starting points for further Googling on historical events and pop culture. Much of his speculation I didn't agree with, specifically the two times when the show makes mentions aliens: the first when Ginsburg calls himself a Martian, the second when real Don's wife tells fake Don that she's seen a UFO. Matt's criticism does have a careerist critical grievance studies basis, but that's just par for the course at this point.

It's well-made fanservice nonetheless. The poems are cute, and a lot of attention was put into the art. And as mass media continues to treat you like a half-brained troglodyte as they have no qualms boldface lying about litera--wait. . . yeah, literal retardation like Ozark or Succession being watchable for anyone who can pat his head and rub his tummy at the same time, rest easy in the fact Mad Men is streaming on Prime Video.

With ads even though you're paying for a subscription.

[John Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mad Men is probably my favorite TV series of all time and reading this book enrichens and deepens the experience of rewatching the show.

[Brian K · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a pretentious douche

[Jeff Swystun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warning - this book review is over 2,000 words :)

Okay, um, wow. I am positively blown away by Matt Zoller Seitz’s book, Mad Men Carousel. His sentences are paragraphs, paragraphs are chapters, and chapters an entire work in density not length. I mean this in the best possible way. I never knew that when Don was stopped at the railway tracks, he was contemplating suicide. Or when Betty vomits in their recently purchased automobile it ruins the new car smell and is a form of revenge because Don has stunk up their marriage. Matt brings tons to light.

He schooled me on what is really going on in a series I have watched five times. In viewing, I was enamoured with the historical accuracy and the portrayal of the ad business, specifically the pitches. My last viewing was paired with this book (like martinis and oysters). I would watch a few episodes and then read Matt’s corresponding analysis. Then I would switch the order by reading then watching.

In so doing, I got an incredible amount more out of the stories, characters, and historical context. Matt is incredibly balanced. He calls the series out for missteps and mistakes especially when they appear to back off issues and subjects when they shouldn’t. He acknowledges the complaint of many that, “the series is merely a high-toned soap opera gussied up with period detail and allusions to literature, mythology, and other signifiers of respectability.”

I have wondered if the team behind the show had it all plotted out or it was a balance of planning and happenstance. Matt answers that with, “what we find is a series not beholden to a strict and forbidding architecture at all but something far messier, far more beautiful, and far more real.” And, “the show regularly abandons traditional narrative form for a kind of dream logic, moving forward suddenly in time, flipping backward, seemingly digressing, ordered not by chronology but by emotional associations.” Matt makes his own logic in 92 essays covering each episode.

When the show was in its heyday and was a water cooler topic, I would ask others, Why did they choose advertising? Why that profession? Could it not have been set at IBM or NBC? Perhaps, but we would not have had the same wackiness of Madison Avenue. But more importantly, it is because advertising is a delightfully appropriate avatar. It has always presented an unattainable and vacuous ideal – a perfect life brought to you by…consumerism.

The show ironically postulates this unattainable. It “glamourizes the constructed image of the Eisenhower-era, Leave It to Beaver-style nuclear family by showing us beautiful people with beautiful homes and clothes and cars, as if they, too, were fantasy objects, things that other people dream of having.” At the same time, many argue that the show is not about advertising. It is simply an entertaining means to deliver the deeper content. I disagree.

Matt puts it this way, “Why do we want the things we want? Is it because we really want them, or because we’ve been conditioned to believe that we should.” For millennia, marketing and advertising has clouded the line between wants and needs. And for seven seasons and ninety-two episodes every character tries to find that line for themselves even while they contribute to that cloud through their professional lives. If the show can be boiled down to one theme it is the tension between wants and needs.

The show explores many topics. Much has been written on whether or not Mad Men addressed race or deceivingly skirted it. Most black characters have “narrow substance”. Maids, secretaries, elevator operators, a mugger, acon artist/robber, and a Playboy Bunny. It is if the show is playing an elaborate joke.

Carla is the one exception as a black character. She is a wonderful stabilizing and normalizing force. While she is the black housekeeper, she is much more. Don’s secretary, Dawn, is a complete throw away except for the ongoing jokes about their names. I can tell you I was shocked when Pete’s father tells him that a job as an account man in advertising is not fitting for a white man.

Gender too, is a constant subject. Matt points out, “a woman on Madison Avenue circa 1960 was to feel constantly scrutinized, rated, and otherwise dehumanized by men.” The cringe-worthy humiliations pile up throughout the series and do not lessen. If anything, the male characters ramp it up perhaps sensing the seventies will be different than the sixties.

It also touches on homosexuality through Sal, a closeted gay man. Everyone rooted for Sal and most viewers and critics thought he would return in later seasons. Matt’s analysis of the episode where Don discovers Sal’s secret on a business trip is fantastic. Don threatens him with the insider knowledge but it is so damn subtle. This is bully-Don. Don passively lashing out because he has so many secrets.

Every character is a slow burn of a reveal. We go through the series gradually learning back stories. We come to understand what motivates and scares these mad players. They all want to write their own stories or to have life on their terms but they have no idea what that means or what they want. It is a frustrating quest for unattainable control.

John Hamm’s Don Draper is “outwardly square but has rebellious, even anarchistic, tendencies.” He is “a crisply attired, Brylcreemed embodiment of the Madison Avenue’s influence, (but) feels like an outsider himself.” Matt calls him, “an arrogant, oversexed rock star.” In fact, he is a professional imposter. A poster child for the fake world packaged and presented in ads. As bad as his childhood was, it does not let him off the hook.

John Slattery’s Roger Sterling is a charming man-boy full of one-liners. Somewhere deep down he knows he is no David Ogilvy though he wants that acclaim. A man on permanent shore-leave. He ships off as often as Don disappears and reinvents.

Betty’s “narcissism and casual cruelty towards her children” became her badge of honour. January Jones either is this person or grew into the role. She began to impress in the second season but I found the fat-suit storyline detracted and distracted. She is at her best-worst when she accompanies son Bobby on a school outing. That episode was a gruesome display of parenting.

Elisabeth Moss’ Peggy was wonderful. I always enjoyed the name, Peggy Olson, as it conjures up the innocence that was once Peggy and America. Matt believes the Peggy and Don relationship is so deep, so layered that it has no precedent in television history. And then there is Pete. Oh Pete. He is a perpetual love-hate of a character. Vincent Kartheiser’s delivery of the line, “Not great Bob!” is gold.

Sally is amazing both as a character and in the fantastic actress Kiernan Shipka quickly came to be. When she yells, “I am not going!” to Don who is making her return to Betty, you can feel every ounce of frustration and anger. Matt sees her, “always observing and interpreting the madness around her.” You hope Sally escapes her childhood and avoids deep dysfunction if she has her own family.

I really struggle with Megan. And not only because I live in Quebec and that the supporting French-Canadian characters are experts in dysfunction. After the last viewing, I now conclude that Megan is a ditzy opportunist turned unbalanced woman-brat. Did Don really ruin her life? Yes and no. He gave her opportunity and she rose to heights her own talent and maturity could not match.

Many fans wish Megan never happened. I am not in that camp as to me Megan is an appalling hypocrite. Matt makes me question Megan even more when he hints that she did some naughty things in an audition to win a part while at the same time Joan prostituted herself to gain a partnership in the business.

I rooted for many of the supporting players. Freddy Rumsen is reminiscent of the main character in Yates’ story B.A.R. Man. Both reel from PTSD from World War Two. How many of the greatest generation turned to drink due to experiences at The Battle of the Bulge or Okinawa? Freddy could be a book end representing the old and new but instead he is a befuddled, out-of-touch veteran who never came to grips with killing.

Ken and his secret quest as a writer was fun to follow. He is better scribbler than those writing at the agency. Even when he can escape, Ken is invariably drawn to the marketing profession. Though quite conventional by Mad Men standards, I reveled in his revenge.

Many folks have had issue with characters on the show either due to their very inclusion or the skill of the actors portraying them. Glen, played by Matthew Weiner’s son, tends to top the list. His story arc with Betty is a stretch and the stilted acting make most scenes brutal. Greg who played Joan’s husband never came off. The actor squandered a great role. Lou Avery is a dud. People I knew fast-forwarded through Lou’s scenes.

Matt does a great job contextualizing the client pitches, “The Lucky Strike meeting is also about how language can shape perception and self-perception, and give a person or a company permission to do as it pleases.” One of the most quoted Don Draper lines likens advertising to happiness or the perception of happiness. In the meeting, “happiness means the ability to do as you please, without worrying about other people’s expectations, opinions, rules or laws.” And here I thought it was just another client meeting.

The SnoBall pitch re-affirmed the fact that the competition is often within the agency. It shows that most agencies have to do work with small, unattractive accounts. When Don pitches a campaign to Waikiki Sheraton he floats a big idea that turns out to be a vision for his own suicide. He doesn’t see it until it is mentioned in the client meeting. The look on his face is priceless.

Most people talk about the Kodak Carousel and Heinz pitches, I loved Accutron. Don arms Freddy Rumsen with an amazing value proposition for this time-piece. Matt points out, “Like pretty much every advertising pitch, this one either preys on existing insecurities or creates them, subsequently offering a product that promises to make everything better.” That being said, the tagline, “It’s not a time piece. It’s a conversation piece.”, is a classic.

Sprinkled liberally throughout the series are shocks. Most of Mad Men is about non-stories, just people competing in an office and struggling at home. But at intervals, like life, there is a life changing event. Adam Whitman’s suicide due to Don’s denial of him as family wins as the most shocking for me. The gentle character played brilliantly by Jay Paulsen is tragic in every sense of the word.

Then there is Roger vomiting an ocean of oysters. That was so well done I thought John Slattery was a method actor. The now famous John Deere incident comes with Vietnam and World War Two connections and a nod to the JFK assassination. Ginsberg’s bloody nipple and the bayonet to Abe’s chest a la Apocalypse Now are standouts. We all felt Sally’s horror when she witnesses the fellatio of Roger. The fight between Lane and Pete was a beauty. The old-style fisticuffs were fantastic.

Matt believes, “Mad Men using symbolism to complicate its stories rather than tie them up in a bow.” The symbols come to represent themes including the feeling of being trapped and escaping. We see this when characters take unnecessary vacations and business trips or find a bar. Checking out midafternoon to take in a matinee is also a favorite ploy. My father was a World War Two navy veteran who did the matinee thing and I emulated him without knowing until much later that we shared the pastime. All of the characters go AWOL all some point.

Having been in the advertising industry, I know that people can be jealous and vindictive, sour, acidic, petty, judgmental, and superior. That may seem like a mass generalization but it is a topic that comes up frequently in advertising so Weiner and crew got it right. The characters are ill-equipped to be adults so act childlike exuding entitlement and dissatisfaction in equal measure. At one point Megan exclaims, “You’re all so cynical. You don’t smile, you smirk.”

Secrets abound but thankfully consumption and consumerism provide distraction. Matt points out that the show is, “how capitalism, advertising, and workplaces can warp the mind and kill the spirit, making people act coldly toward the ones they love because they aren’t meeting the goals the system set for them.” Meanwhile, the characters are fascinated with “work, commerce, career advancement, profit, and consumerist fantasy.” This goes beyond avoiding home life, it is how they self-actualize.

I really appreciated Matt’s view of how the show is shot. He believes the character of Duck is consistently placed in sparsely furnished rooms and seen from some distance back to emphasize “his emotional and physical isolation.” Matt really digs at this, “the series tends to editorialize with camera angles and cuts rather than in dialogue.” He sees this as an invitation “to not just watch the show but scrutinize it, as one might scrutinize opponents in a fight. We’re always on the lookout for deceptions and self-deceptions.”

Music underpins each episode’s theme or accentuates the actions of characters. There is the upbeat but desperate Telstar by The Tornadoes, the plaintive cry of Tobacco Road by Nashville Teens, and the clear message in You Only Live Twice from Nancy Sinatra. In later seasons, Simon & Garfunkel’s Bleecker Street, The Beach Boys’ I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times and The Beatles incredible Tomorrow Never Knows speak of being lost in our time. All very Mad Men indeed.

Mad Men is at once simple and incredibly complex perhaps best compared to Bert Cooper’s description of New York City, “a marvellous machine filled with levers and gears and springs, like a fine watch wound tight, always ticking.” Comparing the show to something else that is being compared to something else is absolutely fitting as life is metaphor and advertising is comparison.

Matt concludes the book by suggesting Mad Men is not about history, it is mystery. In his book, he solves a great deal of those mysteries and has forever enriched the series for me.

[aster · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's not much to say about this book that isn't directly tied to how you feel about the show. I got exactly what I wanted from it. It's a book for the Mad Men fan, collecting all of the author's essays on each episode. It also has some lovely illustrations, poems, notes and a timeline of how the episodes fit into the events of 1954-1971. So, I loved it.

There's two sets of notes: footnotes that are for new watchers without any spoilers and endnotes with references to future episodes. My only real criticism of the book is the amount of notes. It's mostly fine but sometimes it goes a bit overboard with notes that just signify when a related piece of media was created, or reminding us of when obvious Mad Men events occurred. For example, always adding a note to remind us whenever it's mentioned that the Kodak Carousel pitch happens in the The Wheel - how could anyone forget that scene?

The essays and notes together give me what I was hoping to get from this book: wider context of the history that affected these characters (one of the show's main themes), other media that inspired and influenced the show, links of foreshadowing/motifs/themes between episodes, and in general just a wonderful analysis of Mad Men from a fellow fan. I'm not good with picking apart TV and film myself, so I loved how the book puts words to 'vibes' you feel when watching the show and confirming exactly why I loved a particular scene or shot.
The book also doesn't shy away from criticising Mad Men. It routinely points out how it fails to properly develop the show's black characters beyond the context of the 60s, or where writing is tropey and unimaginative. Or sometimes it's just one too many scene of Don self-destructing and trying to remaking himself again.

It's a passionate book about a compelling show that enriches the viewing experience, whether you're new or watching it for the nth time like me. I just finished another watch before starting this book, and now I think I'm going to rewatch it all over again. 4.5 stars for this, but rounded up to 5.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mad Men is a great show. Full of deep character work, sharp dialogue, and a long list of knockout performances. It can be tense and serious one minute and wickedly funny the next (sometimes in the same scene). It's set in a 1960s (mostly) ad agency (mostly) in NYC (mostly). It's really about that though. That's all just setting for the characters. It's really about the ways that they live their lives and interact with one another over the course of about 10 years. And, like, say, The Sopranos, it doesn't really have a neat ending. But this review is about the book.

Matt Zoller Seitz and his collaborators put together a great companion to the show. It's structured fairly simply: episode-by-episode essays/reviews, with a timeline (keyed to the show, but also real events), and copious notes (footnotes for first-time viewers and endnotes for repeat watchers). The analysis is sharp, picking up on details that can be hard to keep on one's head after 7 seasons. They highlight the many, many callbacks to previous episodes (and, in the endnotes, instances of foreshadowing) and tie various thematic strands together. As an example, in the essay on the series finale, he mentions episodes from every season, and cites specific examples from S1, S2, S4, and S7. It takes a lot to balance all of that and pull it together effectively, but MZS did it. I didn't necessarily agree with every interpretation offered in the book (in fact, I disagree with his take on the final scene, among others), but he always gives a compelling case. And, like the show, it's never boring, but rich and considered.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished the series for the first time, and part of me wanted to watch it again from the beginning - I'm glad I read this book instead. It was perfect! Each chapter was a deep dive into an episode, and the author obviously really cared about the storylines and the characters - but was not adverse to saying that this or that episode was flawed for whatever reason. By the end of the book I felt full and satisfied, as if I'd rewatched the series with someone who had a lot of informed opinions. Was going to deduct a star because there are WAY too many footnotes (and you never know which are going to be helpful and which are just going to tell you what year a song or movie came out) but added that star back because Seitz does such a good job repeatedly highlighting the lack of attention to the humanity of the show's Black characters. I really appreciate that he loves the show but is not going to cut the writers any slack here. Also, the footnotes may have been a bit much, but the endnotes were fantastic. (These were for those of us who have seen the show already and might want to see how themes are connected between early episodes and later events.) Overall, really great stuff.

[Eric Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful contextual/historical companion piece for Mad Men. The footnotes lead down interesting rabbit holes and the timeline tracking from season 1 (1960) through season 7 (1970-71) was eye opening as well, placing the show and its references within history. The layout of the book, with some illustrations and poems, foot notes and end notes, kept the pages turning. I definitely recommend it (not a short read, a bit of an investment at almost 500 pages) to Mad Men fans. I enjoyed reading a couple of episode recaps each night before bed, as if I was binging the series again (which I completed over the course of a couple months during the Spring-to-Summer transition on this year of our Quarantine Lord 2020: definitely helpful to have the episodes relatively fresh in your mind while reading)...settling in with these flawed but inspiring characters, the amazing writing, the impeccable filmmaking, and the rich production/costume/sound designs.

[Matthías Ólafsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ég hreinlega elskaði þessa bók. Helsti kostur hennar er að þó svo að hún lofi þættina ítrekað með virkilega djúpri greiningu sinni er hún samt heldur ekkert ástarbréf til þeirra þar sem höfundurinn er engan veginn hræddur við að gagnrýna þá líka. Fannst eins og ég væri enn eina ferðina að horfa á bestu þætti allra tíma en nú með öðruvísi sjónarhorni. Mæli virkilega með fyrir alla Mad Men hausa out there.

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for fans of Mad Men! The author goes through each episode in depth. There is a wonderful timeline at the end of the book that puts the episodes in historical context. I rewatched the series this summer and read a chapter each time I finished an episode. Highly recommended!

[Miguel Yarull · Rating 4 out of 5]

He visto la serie completa tres veces. Este libro es una extensión del maravilloso mundo que creó Weiner. Referencias, interioridades, interpretaciones. Cada capítulo analizado; y aunque algunas lecturas se sienten exageradas, los fans se las perdonamos.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome. Read this in tandem with re-watching all 92 episodes and it added depth to the experience in both directions. The focus ranges across characterization, narration, cinematography, acting, writing, psychology, art, music, literature, TV/film, history, and culture. Great stuff.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not interesting to me

I watched Mad Men often when it was on. And I loved it. I read blog posts about show and answered comments in dialog with others. But reading these summaries years afterwards seeing the episodes don’t do it for me.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

An essential companion to essential viewing.