The Last Days of Mash: Photographs and Notes

by Alan Alda, Alan Alda

If you liked mash you should have this book!!

Genres: Nonfiction, Tv, Memoir, Reference

170 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1983

About the author

Alan Alda (28 January, 1936 - ) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, comedian and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he played Hawkeye Pierce in the war television series M*A*S*H.

Full name: Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo
Son of actor Robert Alda
Husband of children's book author Arlene Alda

Reviews

[Graceann · Rating 5 out of 5]

With photos and handwritten notes by Arlene Alda, and text from Alan Alda, this book goes over the final week of shooting of this classic television series. It is emotional, interesting, amusing and memory-evoking. I remember watching the news the day they filmed the final scene in the final 30-minute episode, and crying along with the cast. In reading The Last Days of MASH, however, I learned that the cast felt cheated out of their moment with each other by the media crush and flashing bulbs. These are people who loved each other, and continue to stay in touch more than 30 years later, so reading about the end of the series so soon after it happened is a sweet experience. Also included are messages from dignitaries, cartoons, storyboards and other related tidbits. A must for any MASH fan, and I am definitely in that contingent.a

[Lo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't want this book to end! i love Alan Alda in ways that are possibly illegal in some states, and his writing is so wonderful. It's conversational; my favorite kind of writing and his laser sharp perspectives shoot him to the top of the list of people I want to have cocktails with. I am a huge fan of M*A*S*H, but I have never seen the last episode due to so many people cautioning me away from like (a la Rocky V). After reading this I'm excited about dusting off the old girl and giving her a spin in the DVD player.

It was pointed out to me that my reviews rarely discuss the contents of the books. I'm not sure if that's always a bad thing. I think if you read as much as I do you're going for an experience. Also I'm not one for book reports. If want to know what the book is about and cannot discern this by the title that's the dust jacket blurb is for.

[Miloš & Brontë · Rating 5 out of 5]

Papa: So what would you like to tell Hawkeye, Të?

Brontë: That I loved M*A*S*H*, and I cried at the ending. It was sad when we were done watching it, and I loved when Hawkeye and Sherman Potter...I loved when Sherman Potter said "Fire the gun," and he said, "Gun you're fired." There were some pretty good ones I loved, and I am sad now because I miss it. And that's all I want to say.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason, this was in my junior high school library in the early 1990s. At the time, I was watching reruns of M*A*S*H every night on my family's old black and white TV (the local independent station was one of the only ones that came in clearly). They showed the entire series in original broadcast order, so I got to see all of the metamorphoses it underwent over the 11 years it was on the air. I discovered this book just as I got to the end of the series, and CBS, by coincidence, re-ran the finale for its ten-year anniversary around the same time. The timing was perfect, and the book was delightful. I renewed it a few times from the library and just kept re-reading it. The book includes a fascinating behind the scenes look at the last week or so of work on the show, including photos and text from Alan and Arlene Alda. I appreciated the show so much more after reading this book. Not much else to say about the content, but I have very pleasant memories of reading this book.

[tyRonE hArDing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Put together by Alan's wife (professional photographer) Arlene Alda along with Alan, this is a well curated (and kind of short) scrape-book that documents the last week of the series last TV episode shoot (plus lots of current event news and info about the finale before and after it aired).

As most know, the final 2½ hour finale was filmed many months before. The pix show them filming the "time capsule" episode called "As Time Goes By".

There is also commentary by Alan with those pix. These pix are very rare and show a lot of the behind the scene images from that final shoot. As someone who enjoyed watching 3 re-runs of MASH a day and the Monday night new episode on the network when it was still running, these pix are fascinating to view. Alan's commentary was also enjoyable.

The rest of the book included lots of production notes, Alan's hand drawn story board of the finale and news stories, editorial cartoons, telegrams from famous people and personal letters from people all documenting how impactful the series finale was.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool photo memoir of the last week of Mash. Alan Alda's wife took the pictures and both her and him gave commentary.

[Tim Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good and interesting look at the finals days of shooting MASH. Lots of nice behind the scenes facts and photos. Really enjoyed this book.

[Anastasia Guiler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any fan of M*A*S*H needs to read this. Beautiful portraits, wonderful memories and an in-depth look into how beloved this show really was.

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I have seen every episode of Mash at least 20 times. The ending was sad but tied up very nicely. His wife took the photographs for this great book.