The Sopranos on the Couch: Analyzing Television's Greatest Series - Hardcover

Yacowar, Maurice

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0826414109 ISBN 13: 9780826414106

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic, 2002

Synopsis

The Sopranos has proved a pop-culture sensation. It is not only the most controversial series on television, it is also the most provocative, thoughtful, and complex. Its characters and phrases have entered our everyday life, well beyond HBO's many millions of subscribers. The language and themes of The Sopranos have stretched the norms of commercial television. Sales of the video and DVD releases of Season 2, as we now move into Season 4, have likewise broken all records for similar film-and-television series. The Sopranos on the Couch is the first book to provide a compact, lively, and authoritative examination of each episode and season - the themes, inside jokes, and allusions - thereby putting the series into a broader cultural context. If television programming is normally considered a wasteland, then The Sopranos may be thought of as a jungle: richly colored, teeming with life, dark with mystery. The Sopranos on the Couch is a must for all who are already caught up in the excitement, as well as for viewers who are coming to the show for the first time. Yacowar helps us understand exactly why we can't get enough of Tony Soprano and that colorful mafia family that we hate to love and often love to hate!>

About this title

About the Author:

Maurice Yacowar is a retired professor of English and Film Studies at the University of Calgary. His earlier books include pioneering studies of Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, and Paul Morrisey. Yacowar lives in Calgary, Alberta.

Review:

"The Sopranos on the Couch: Analyzing Television's Greatest Series is a must-buy for every reader interested in contemporary American popular culture. In an age when much film criticism has become almost unreadable - or at least humorless - Maurice Yacowar proves that a sharp mind and a critical eye can produce engaging, provocative, thought-provoking critical analysis without the dead weight of academic jargon.

"Yacowar believes that The Sopranos is the greatest television series ever made, a work of art worthy of comparison to the best European art films of the great French or Italian auteurs. Reading this fine book should move any reader to agreement. Yacowar's entertaining and stylishly written detailed analysis of every episode in the three-year run of the hit series to date covers everything of interest - from editing and script writing to music, links to other gangster films, and the key role played by David Chase, the creator of the program.

"The image that emerges from this book is that of a sophisticated postmodern icon of American popular culture, a work of genius that will continue to attract critical attention for decades to come. But any future discussion of The Sopranos will begin with Yacowar's interpretation. The Sopranos on the Couch is the one book every Sopranos fan must have on his or her shelf." - PETER BONDANELLA, author of Italian Cinema: From Neorealism to the Present

"After some intriguing background on the hit drama, Yacowar deconstructs three seasons of the show, episode-by-episode, analyzing everything from thematic connections and similarities with the classic Godfather Trilogy to structure, musical score, violence, language, and stereotyping....Yacowar deals with all the questions and complaints and , like Dr. Melfi, gives us plenty to think about?not just regarding those important production values but also about how the series reflects popular culture....Give this to those who want some substance."
—Booklist

"The Sopranos on the Couch: Analyzing Television's Greatest Series is exactly what the
show deserves: an immensely readable, tack-sharp episode guide, written by a rabid
fan...Yacowar's structural criticism (...) doesn't miss a trick...Yacowar's book should handily convince non-believers of the show's brilliance, and give fanatics even more to chew on during mandatory re-viewings. It's a fun read"
—FFWD, 11/28-12/4/02

"...an excellent overview of the series....an excellent guide to individual episodes, with astute commentary about key moments....will confirm your opinion that The Sopranos is clever and compelling."
—Globe and Mail, 9/21/02

"comprehensive examination... diehard fans will surely want it for their collections."
—Publishers Weekly, 7/1/02

“Yacowar’s perspective and perceptions are very sharp, and he does an excellent job at examining each of the episodes and analyzing how they build into one another. The book is best at dissecting the hidden themes and humor of the show and commenting on how The Sopranos culture is but an extension of our own personal little worlds...Readers will find Yacowar’s prose captivating, as he analyzes characters and events with the keen eye of a man who knows film and how the great ones are made.” –Electric Review, 5/7/04

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0826414109
• ISBN 13: 9780826414106
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 208