The Complete Book of M*A*S*H [Hardcover]

Suzy Kalter (Author), Larry Gelbart (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 1988

Full of the people, scenes, and emotions that made M*A*S*H an eleven-year television sensation, this is an homage of wit and warmth. Each of the 251 episodes are reprised, complete with interviews of the people who made it and acted in it. More than 200 photos capture key scenes as well as intimate backstage moments.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.; 2nd edition (March 15, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810980835
• ISBN-13: 978-0810980839
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 9.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #389,137 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I have good news, and I have bad news, January 14, 2002

By 

Rabbi Yonassan Gershom (Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Complete Book of M*A*S*H (Hardcover)

The good news is, that the photography and cast interviews in this book are fantastic. There are hundreds of color stills from the series, capturing the flavor of the show and some of it's most memorable moments. Plus, the background material and the the interviews have some real depth, going into detail about casting, how the actors developed their characters, praises and complaints, interesting retrospective thoughts, etc. That part is GREAT!

The bad news is, that the episode summaries leave much to be desired. As the author herself states, she was working primarily from scripts. That's a bad idea because, as every media buff knows, there are often last-minute changes and ad libs during filming that aren't in the scripts. Not to mention what happens during editing. The definitive version isn't what's written down on paper, it's what you finally see on the screen. The result is, that characters are misquoted in the book, and sometimes the "wrong" plotline is given preference. I realize it's a daunting task to watch 11 years of episodes over and over, but that's a must if you are going to write the "complete" book about a TV series. So, for making those plot summary mistakes, I'm docking the book one star.

Still, it is a very nice hardcover reference, and will certainly help you put your tape collection in order. (Although, now that the series is coming out on DVD, with all the episodes already in order on the discs, that won't be as much of a problem...) Even with it's deficiencies, it belongs in every MASH collection.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Where are the Supporting Characters?, August 2, 2005

By 

M. McClellan "msmc73" (Akron, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Book of M*A*S*H (Hardcover)

We all know that the principle characters were the heart of this show. But I never hear or read anything about the cast of supporters who have also contributed to this classic TV series. They have also been around a long time and probably have interesting stories of their own to tell. Those include:
Nurse Kelley
Grizzo
Igor
Col. Flagg (my favorite)
Dr. Sidney Freedman
There are a few more but you get the idea. They are absent here and don't deserve to be.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Good but Disappointing Book of M*A*S*H, January 16, 2005

By 

Mr. Dana "Dana_Franklin" (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Book of M*A*S*H (Hardcover)

I vacillated between giving this book 3 or 4 stars. While in some respects it is almost a "four star", I settled on three due to nature of the episode synopses, as you will see from the following. I bought this book more than twelve years ago, and have referred to it numerous times, so it does have many redeeming features, but overall I would classify this as a relatively good, yet disappointing book. The moniker "'Complete' Book of M*A*S*H" is quite the misnomer. As Suzy Kalter notes in her introduction, she purposely excluded all the 2 or 3 subplots within each episode. This section could have been (and should have been) much more complete. By leaving this information out, it cheats the reader of some vital memories, tears, and laughter. Some of the funniest, saddest and most cleaver moments appeared in these "subplots". A lot a character development took place here as well. The finale was essentially five episodes in one, and yet the book left out a huge amount of the plot and lost a lot of the essence of this episode. The synopses section is by far the most deficient part of the book. For example, in the synopses of "Adam's Ribs", she notes that "Henry" was upset that Hawkeye had forgotten to order the cole slaw; as you know, Henry never said that. It was the Sgt. at Supply who expressed surprise that Hawkeye had sent all the way to Chicago and didn't order it! Honestly, the synopses read as though they were written by a person who either was: a) only a casual viewer of the series; b) only read early drafts of the scripts, or c) never really watched M * A * S * H at all, and garnered the information from friends who had only casually watched the series. In this respect, I found the book very disappointing. Similar books dealing with other shows were more complete, and did not leave out anything; all subplots, etc. were included, and yet this made the books neither confusing nor cumbersome, but rather enhanced their delightfulness. It's a pity the author did not see fit to do so with this book. If she had, this book would be a true gem, and quite possibly the best of the breed. Instead its just a run-of-the mill.

The introduction is Larry Gelbart having a "conversation " (or session?) with Dr. Sidney Freedman, followed by information on the shows creation, and progression from Theatrical Movie to TV series. Each season is introduced by either series creator/writers Larry Gelbart, Gene Reynolds, Executive Producer Burt Metcalfe, Executive Script Consultants David Isaacs and Ken Levine, Story Editor Dennis Koenig, Supervising Producer John Rappaport, or Producers/Writers Thad Mumford & Dan Wilcox, and closes with a commentary by one of the series stars: Season One by Wayne Rogers; Season Two by Alan Alda; Season Three by Jamie Farr; Season Four by Mike Farrell; Season Five by Larry Lineville; Season Six by William Christopher; Season Seven by Gary Burghoff; Season Eight by Harry Morgan; Season Nine by David Ogden Stiers; Season Ten by Loretta Swit; Season Eleven does not have one. (Interestingly, there is commentary by Mclean Stephenson.) These features, along with the great photographs, are among the best features of the book. You learn here, for example, why Gary Burghoff and Larry Linville left after Season Five and Seven, respectively, and a lot of insight from the actors into their characters development. The photographs are very nice touch. Some are behind the scenes shots, other are stills taken from an episode.

The book concludes with a Writer/Director listing, followed by a list of the awards the show one during its eleven year run, and finally a list of available M*A*S*H products, although I imagine that this section is quite outdated by now.

The casual M*A*S*H fan will likely be satisfied, but the M*A*S*H-aholic will be sorely disappointed - at least to some extent. Still this book is a must have, but only because it has no competition.