About book Difficult Men: Behind The Scenes Of A Creative Revolution: From The Sopranos And The Wire To Mad Men And Breaking Bad (2013)
A great read for anyone interested in the TV business. It spends perhaps a tad longer on David Simon and The Wire than it should, and seems to give short shrift to a couple of shows that might have warranted deeper examination. That could also just be my bias, since I've seen and love The Sopranos, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad and still need to catch up with The Wire. Though the Breaking Bad glimpse into the writer's room was definitely one of this book's highlights. I'm glad he stuck close to his thesis about Difficult Men — on screen and behind the scenes — though there is equally fascinating material to examine in the role of women during this era, from Sex & The City to Weeds to The Comeback. That's a different book, but this one did make me hungry for some reading on that topic as well. Having previously read the book about the creation of the cult TV series, The Wire, I was keen to read this one about the breakthrough of this and other TV series that broke the mould of dross that previously inhabited American TV screens.Of course, it's easy to be smug here in the UK over the richness of our TV compared, historically, with what Americans were forced to suffer. In the UK we started with Public Broadcast TV - the BBC - rather then the other way around and so when commercial TV hit our screens, the BBC had already set the bar so high that not to match up would have been the end before it had even started.Not so the US. It really wasn't until the end of the last century that US TV started to produce programmes really worth watching, although the odd spark of light was supplied by the occasional gem such as Twin Peaks and The X-Files.However, in this book, the concentration is not on fantasy but upon classic Crime Drama and the major focus throughout is on The Sopranos and its lead, James Gandolfini.This is also very much about the American angle and in particular American actors. Yes, it does touch on one or two Brits, such as Idris Elba as Stringer Bell in The Wire and Ian McShane as Al Swearingen in Deadwood, and those who didn't make it onto the US screen such as Ray Winstone. But, for the vast majority of the book, it is purely the US aspect that is covered.And none the worse for that. It is an intriguing story that is told and I found it a real page-turner.
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So far, very entertaining. good insight into the world of David Chase and the writing craft.
—prettypimpin
Recomiendo este libro. Imprescindible para conocer la historia de la tv reciente. Genial.
—MusicalStory
I really wish I could give this 3.5 stars
—sam_92s
