Reading Deadwood: A Western to Swear By

by David Lavery (Editor)

With the debut of Deadwood on HBO, a vision of the "Old West" emerged that was unlike anything done before on TV. David Milch, also the creator of NYPD Blue, imbued the series with his signature use of harsh language, complex storylines, and shocking acts of violence. The characters he created redefined the hackneyed stereotypes of the Western genre, from the harassed but defiant "Chinaman," Mr. Wu, to the murderous, ferociously funny Al Swearengen, to the whiskey-drinking Calamity Jane who's only too happy to help her friend run the new brothel in town. Reading Deadwood offers an entertaining and eye-opening look into everything from the use of profanity, the characters, and the way the show bends the genre, to subjects like prostitution, race, and the making of American civil society. Complete with episode and character guides, no fan of Deadwood--and no one interested in Westerns--should be without this book.

Genres: Tv, Pop Culture, History

258 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Oliver Theakston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting with some erudite illuminations about Deadwood. It suffers from what all these 'reading/philosophising' popular culture books suffer from - a tendancy to get bogged down in lengthy plot summaries. Completely pointless, given the reader is obviously well read in the subject matter or else why would they be reading the book?
Particularly interesting chapters were those about the opening titles and the women of deadwood.
This is a book I will definitely return to. A book to be 'dipped into' as opposed to be read from cover to cover.

[Philly Aesthete · Rating 4 out of 5]

Critical essays on the series. The introduction alone is a standout. It provides us with an introduction to David Milch (series creator, writer) the man and the mind. Once you understand the trajectory of his life from scholar to Hollywood writing hack and his literary obsessions, you understand much about the undergirding ethos of this series & of NYPD Blue as well. Complicated guy, Milch. As you would imagine, there are a few essays that tackle language as used in the series and do so really well. There is also a wonderful chapter on gender(ed) roles and one on the pimp/whore dyad. There aren't enough essays that focus squarely on the women of Deadwood, but the one that delineates the myths vs historical facts of Calamity Jane's life is a highlight. My personal favs are the opening two chapters that pick apart the psyche of Al Swearegen & posits him as Milch's model of a new kind of British literary villain. If you loved the series and have a hankering for literary theory, this text is for you. It's one of the better 'academics wax poetic about TV pop culture' books that I've read.