Dusted: The Unauthorized Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer

by Lars Pearson, Lars Pearson, Christa Dickson

The ultimate guide for every Buffy fan, the unauthorized (but highly professional and sexy) Dusted details and reviews all 144 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in exhaustive detail-with story summaries, quotes, notes on magic, character development, a rolling Slayer Kill-Count and more. Jointly written by Lawrence Miles (Faction Paradox), Lars Pearson (Wizard magazine) and Christa Dickson, this beefy guide also contains information on the Buffy comic and novel series, plus heaps of behind-the-scenes details on this phenomenal TV show.

Genres: Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Pop Culture, Nonfiction, Tv, Vampires

308 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

Reviews

[Elle · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's incredible how most episode guides are a series of lists - which is fair enough in a way - but when you write with no panache, it can come across as boring and obvious. (I really hope the one I'm writing isn't nearly as dull). Such is the case for Dusted, an episode guide littered with errors and inane commentary, and by inane, I mean the authors point out "errors" in the storytelling, not taking into account that things are also put into a show to explain other aspects, such as continuity, and it's so irritating. Don't bother. Seriously, even Nikki Stafford's "Bite Me!" and Keith Topping's "Slayer" trumps this garbage.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the course of pursuing my long-awaited Buffy & Angel rewatch, I've sampled several different episode guides for each show, and kept a few. While several have points to recommend them, however, all other Buffy contenders pale in comparison to Dusted. This is hardly a surprise, coming not only from the publisher of the absolutely stellar ABOUT TIME guidebooks for Doctor Who - the best episode guides of any TV show ever, bar none - but co-written, in fact, by one of the authors of the same.

First, this guidebook avoids the trap most books of this nature fall into: That of spending pages upon pages reiterating the plot, in case you've already forgotten the episode you presumably just watched; there IS a summary for each one, but it's very short. The interesting sections for each entry include "Firsts and Lasts" (a much more useful bit than you might think, pointing out changes you might never have noticed), incredibly detailed character studies, logical failure and other plot holes, and more. The most prized sections though are those that offer insights into theme and which critique the the success of failure of the episode; they may not attain the ridiculously rich level of detail that ABOUT TIME embraces, but they still make this the best critical episode guide for this show that can be found. Finally, sections such as "The Slayer's Total Kill-Count" (updated every episode) are just darn fun.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

More accurately this book would be a 2.75 or 2.8, but I rounded up. The authors certainly did their homework by watching every episode of BtVS and keeping track of how many vampires or demons Buffy killed, chocked it full of information based on interviews the cast and crew did with various magazines and websites, and even was able to tell the readers the various tatoos or the characters versus those who played them. The major drawback of this book was that it was lacking an editor or proofreader in the worst way. Even big time novels encounter the occasional misspelling or doubling of a word, but there were errors throughout and really made me wonder how much "someone" during the publishing process cared about making a quality product. That being said, if you read this book (and if you are a BtVS or Joss fan you should) be prepared to either agree with the editorials about each episode or be prepared to grit your teeth and ask "Really?!? You don't think that was a horrible idea?". I agreed with many, but I did feel as though the critiques of season 7 were a bit harsh compared to how easy season 6 got off. Read it for yourself and see what you think. This is a great episode guide for any true Buffy fan!

[Suzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every serious Buffy fan needs to get a copy of this book. It's very interesting and funny to read. I read the whole thing all the way through once a long time ago when I first got the book and since then I have gone back to the entries of specific episodes in the book for reference many times. In addition to just being a guide to the episodes, there's tons of trivia, which for me is what made the book so worth it. I highly recommend it.

[Jdetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I really like this book and it's a great in-depth look at the show. It's not quite as enjoyable as the Angel book, I think because the Buffy show doesn't maintain it's quality as the Angel show does, and through the later seasons this book becomes very negative about the show. This would be more acceptable, but it's hard to deal with so much negativity when this book is ABSOLUTELY LOADED with typos. At least one each page. It's exceedingly shoddy and frustrating.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

As this is "unauthorized" I was expecting a pretty basic episode guide.

This is anything but that. DETAILS DETAILS DETAILS.
Everything you can imagine about every episode. After the synopsis of the episode there is more detail and examination. What weapons were used? Who shined in the episode? Details. Stats.

Also, it's a larger book than I expected. Damn, I am impressed. This was on my amazon wish list for YEARS... I finally got it... I am very pleased. 10 stars!

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful guide for BtVS fans as obsessed as I am. :) I especially love the sidebars; they cover things like characters' best moments, specific Buffy mysteries, and one entirely devoted to the songs of Once More, With Feeling. I recommend this one over Kieth Topping's guide, personally.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a few guides to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and this was one of my favorites. You get a story summary of every episode all the way up through season seven. Character notes, glitches, etc. Well written and a must read for any Buffy fan.

[YoSafBridg · Rating 2 out of 5]

many editorial mistakes--but useful but it covers some areas like the comics and graphic novels, fiction that other guides don't

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must for every Buffy fan.

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the best Buffy episode guide I've ever read. Embarrassingly enough, that's saying something.