Fire Walk With Me: Your Laura Disappeared

by Scott Ryan

In 1990, David Lynch was on top of the world. Wild at Heart won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and Twin Peaks was the hottest show on TV. In 1992, he released Twin Fire Walk with Me. It sure is amazing how fast coffee can get cold. The film was not well received, to say the least, by critics or ticket buyers. It seemed like the verdict was Twin Peaks was dead and wrapped in plastic. Thirty years later, the film is thought by many to be Lynch's masterpiece. Author Scott Ryan ( An Oral History, The Blue Rose magazine) was among the few Twin Peaks fans who saw the film on the day it was released and loved it from the beginning. He takes an in-depth look at the film, its legacy, and the people who created it, weaving in his own story of how the film has inspired him throughout his life, and still does. The book features Interviews with cowriter Bob Engels, editor Mary Sweeney, lead actress Sheryl Lee, and other cast members, as well as Ryan's essays covering the different iterations of the script, and Angelo Badalamenti's superb score. This is an ambitious, unique exploration of one of the darkest films ever created by the master himself, David Lynch.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction

235 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 24, 2022

About the author

Scott Ryan is the managing editor of The Blue Rose magazine, the author of Moonlighting: an Oral History, Fire Walk With Me: Your Laura Disappeared, the co-president of Fayetteville Mafia Press and the host of The Red Room podcast.

Reviews

[Joyce Picker · Rating 5 out of 5]

We should all have this much passion for our favorite films and television shows that inspires us enough to write a “whole damn” book about them. I enjoyed this “Twin Peaks” book very much and applaud the main focus of it being the film, “Fire Walk With Me”. Not only are there great interviews of many of those involved with the movie, but there were many personal touches from the author of this book, as well. My personal favorite chapter was the comparison of various drafts of the screenplay.

[Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Walk with him

This is a great love letter from someone talking about their favourite film. It's a deeply dark and disturbing one. He recounts his history to it and interviews a lot of the people who made it and gives you a deeper appreciation of the strange, harrowing and wonderful chapter of Twin Peaks. It reads like a long version of his Blue Rose magazine. That is is not a bad thing at all.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember Scott Ryan hosting the amazing day of Twin Peaks interviews during the pandemic. Recently I watched his great interview with Jen Lynch and decided to get his book about Fire Walk With Me. I've always loved that film. It was probably the first horror film I watched. I was terrified afterwards but so moved. I'd read Laura's diary and been so haunted by it. Seeing her on film was tremendous. To me (dare I say Like David Lynch) Twin Peaks was Laura Palmer. So was fascinating to have this look at interviews by the cast and crew, as well as the big explanations about what the differences were between the original script and the finished film. It was also interesting to see how the missing pieces came to be. Definitely recommended for fans of the film.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very in-depth focus on David Lynch's cinematic follow-up to his groundbreaking tv series, Twin Peaks. If you love Twin Peaks, you'll love this book; if you have no knowledge of Twin Peaks (or only a vague memory from the early 90s) this is NOT the place to begin your journey. If you have no idea who author Scott Ryan is, you'll love him by the end of the book--his passion for all things TP, but ,more importantly, his personal story which winds its way throughout this book is inspirational. I started this book early in January before David Lynch passed away, but it was wonderful to be in the middle of it when the sad news arrived.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

What. A. Treat.

Thank you Scott Ryan for writing such an incredible book about FWWM. Each interview had so many wonderful insights. I very much got the sense of dedication to both craft and David Lynch’s vision from each one.

I’m with you on being blown away about there being confusion about The Pink Room location.

A must read for any Lynch fan.

[Josh reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the opportunity to dive back into the world of Twin Peaks while reading this book. I’m pretty familiar with the mythology of the Twin Peaks story (as much as anyone can be given the non linear mind bending lore associated with it) but this volume offered some really interesting insight into the film Fire Walk With Me.

[Walker White · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely and sometimes personal deep dive into one of my favorite films of all time, with some nice humorous asides. Includes fairly meaty interviews and a close look at deleted scenes/different versions of the script, all of which are illuminating and entertaining for nerds like me:)

[Alan Duran · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW BOB WOW! If you are a fan of Twin Peaks and FWWM, you owe it to yourself to read this book. Great insight and analysis by Scott Ryan. The most interesting parts was The Power And The Glory/Canada/Roadhouse subtitles controversy. Highly recommended!

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun, interesting look at David Lynch's Twin Peaks Movie.

[Rob Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book for fans.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scott Ryan knocks it out of the park as he "fangirls" out over his favorite film. This is one of the best things about how Scott Ryan writes; passionately about topics he loves. This book is for bigtime Fire Walk With Me fans.

It is all here, every detail, from lighting, to production, to Canada!, to the Missing Pieces, to the complete soundtrack and where to find every bit of it. But as Scott puts it in this last chapter titled appropriately, "It's Just Sheryl Lee Now", all of us die hard FWWM fans know who the core of the story is. Laura Palmer, portrayed with all of her emotion, by Sheryl Lee. Every single person that worked on the film that Scott has interviewed, attests to how Sheryl Lee gave it her all in this performance. You can see it in every frame that she is in, you can't take your eyes off of her.

America at large may not have been ready for this film in 1992, but I sure was. This film gave so much hope to so many survivors, as it did for me. There was freedom for Laura at the end, she wasn't in pain any more. It was beautiful.

This is why this movie still has a strong following 40 years on. It is the compassion in which the story was told. I appreciate Scott Ryan spreading the word of David Lynch's crowning achievement.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another self-published "analysis" of a David Lynch movie that mostly reads like an excited superfan's extended blog piece.

[Miles · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s been 30 years since seeing Fire Walk with Me in August 1992. Scott Ryan’s journey to tell the story of this movie is the must read for lovers of Twin Peaks and David Lynch. Scott has worked very hard to make this book be something different about the movie. It’s not just a straightforward history. There’s great information that only the truest of fans would want to write about or learn about.

[Jeffrey Finc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been listening to Scott Ryan’s Red Room podcast for many years and can clearly hear his voice in my head when reading his book. It is written for fans of Fire Walk With Me. If you appreciate the movie as much as I do, you will find this book interesting. If not, well, you probably have no business with it.