Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a TV phenomenon - critically acclaimed and hugely popular throughout the world. Adhering to Virgin's successful programme-guide format and the style of the first two editions. Slayer contains a complete episode-by-episode guide to all five seasons, with each episode broken down into recurring categories to draw attention to details that might otherwise be missed by viewers. Bestselling author Keith Topping also unearths pop culture references and soundtrack information, serves up the best lines of dialogue and exposes continuity errors, while also managing to analyse the show's subtexts and serious issues. In addition, he provides a section on the Buffy novels, background essays and a useful Internet section - all in a style that captures the unique humour of the show. Vampires, violence, passion, non-conformism and teenage angst - this is the essential guide for both casual fans and the most devoted.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"- 'Topping's terrific tome adopts the perfect attitude to this fizzing phenomenon... He rattles through each episode with focus on teen-angst metaphors, the brilliant feminist subtexts, and the dazzling use of 'valley speak'... Colour me stunned' Uncut - 'Highly Recommended' Dreamwatch. - 'Fans will adore it' TV Zone
About the Author
Keith Topping has also written a number of other Virgin programme guides, including Hollywood Vampire: The Unofficial Guide to Angel and High Times: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Roswell. He is also co-author of the The Guinness Book of Classic British TV. Slayer is his nineteenth book. Keith lives in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five Stakes For This Book!,
This review is from: Slayer: An Expanded and Updated Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Mass Market Paperback)
With all of the Buffy related books out there covering this show and it's history, you would think there was nothing else left that could come out to catch your fancy. You would be wrong. This book, written by british author Keith Topping, is an insanely interesting and entertaining read. Every Buffy fan will surely be pleased with it. The book contains five seasons of the show(Sorry, no season six yet. Too early), with episode summaries of each episode. Each section of every episode summary also comes with a few other little segments describing each individual episode. There is - "Dudes And Babes", which tells if there are attractive people in this episode; "It's A Designer Label" which tells about the clothes characters were wearing and if they should of in the first place; "Valley Speak" which is all about the slang and lingo used in the show; "Cigarettes And Alcohol" which I'm sure you can guess on your own; "Logic, Let Me Introduce You To This Window" which is about goof ups and inconsistency problems; "Quotes" is about, you guessed it, quotes from the show; And there are a few other little categories that chime in including the author's final overview of the episode. This is a lot of fun. Topping really delves into every little detail. It's amazing. You don't know if you should be impressed with him or worry about him for having so much free time to catch every little detail. As I've mentioned, he is british and the book is a hoot to read when he talks about British and American things. Some of his comments on our culture is questionable, but not a whole lot. There are also a few comments about the show where he is talking about a screw up or an inconsistency that may be a little too picky, and can be easily answered with just common knowledge. Otherwise, he is right on the nose. Topping is obviously a fan. He can be harsh with some elements of certain episodes, but can enlighten others on subjects on certain episodes that they didn't get. The book would of benefited more if it had pictures. It doesn't. He also wrote a guide for 'Angel' called "Hollywood Vampire" that is also a great read and a must for any fan. All in all, a worthy entry in your Buffy shrine. Good job Keith Topping!.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stake - Well Done,
By Bruce Rux (Aurora, CO) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Slayer: An Expanded and Updated Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Mass Market Paperback)
Topping brings the same kind of witty summarization - or should that be "Summers"-ization? - and analysis to Buffy as he previously did to The Avengers (The Avengers Dossier).Non-fans may get a bit confused by Toppings' sometimes too-brief episode breakdowns, though he manages to convey what needs to be known. Where he really shines is in minutia and trivia. Topping obviously has way too much time on his hands and far too little to do, or he would never catch all the continuity errors he has - e.g., change of position in placement of a pencil on a desk or book from one moment in a given scene to the next, or change of hair length (when stunt-doubles step in), sleeves going from rolled up to rolled down, etc. And that's ignoring the multitude of logic errors Buffy is famous for. For example, if vampires have no breath, how does Spike smoke? If they cast no reflection, why do we see them in plates of glass (and why do they photograph)? If they have to be invited in, why do strange vampires so often seem to manage their way into the Summers home (and other locations) without an invitation? And all this is only going into the logic flaws of the vampires, when there are numerous other areas they manifest - all of which Topping takes great delight in pointing out, never mean-spiritedly, but with the companionable delight of a true fan. Similarly, he spotlights all the main areas in any given episode of good and bad fashion choices, pop-culture references, best one-liners (in numerous different categories), and so on, for the first five seasons of the show - up to Buffy's demise on the WB, and before her UPN resurrection (I refer here to the most recent update of this book, of course). Rarely does he miss a humorous gem from the series, though I must confess, I'm surprised Xander's "Inca Mummy Girl" quip - "Rodney is God's gift to the Bell curve; what he lacks in smarts, he makes up for in lack of smarts." - failed to be noted, along with a few others. Topping has so much food to cover on this rich plate that he sometimes forgets to follow-up his own side-notes, but that is a small matter. It's hardly perfect, but it's as close as you could hope for given the breadth and scope of his subject matter. Fans will enjoy reliving their favorite moments of the show and discovering more trivial notes concerning it than they ever dreamed existed, and non-fans will get such a rich taste of the pop-culture smorgasbord we call "Buffy" that they won't be able to resist sampling the actual show. This book is a highly entertaining way to kill a few hours, whether you're a fan or not.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Buffy Fans Alert!,
By "monkigirl" (Tempe, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Slayer: An Expanded and Updated Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Mass Market Paperback)
This book should be a must have for Buffy Fans. This isn't the typical episode guide/Buffy companion. Keith Topping covers things like the clothes and hair of each episode, slang, when characters are in denial of their situations, etc. He is obvoiusly a big fan of the show, because one would have to watch every second of the show thousands of times to find some of the inconsistancies that Mr. Topping found in his "Logic, let me show you this window" section. As much as I enjoyed this book, I do think that Mr. Topping is a little too critical of the inconsistancies when it comes to shot to shot (such as Buffy's ponytail changes from shot to shot). Not too many people would notice these types of things, and it doesn't take away from the show if it is noticed, so to point these things out...in a book seems, well, [unnecessary]. Other than that, it's a fantastic book, chock-full of information. I highly recommend it to all true Buffy fans. Now I'm off to read Hollywood Vampire, Keith Topping's Angel companion.
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