Customer Reviews

The Sopranos: The Book

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I got an early copy through Barnes & Noble, and let me tell you: this book is awesome. It is filled with extremely high quality photographs ranging from portraits of the cast members to pictures from the episodes to VERY nice pictures of the interiors of buildings (the Soprano house, the Bada Bing, Nuovo Vesuvio, etc.). It is also filled with a wealth of knowledge, talking about numerous aspects about the show from the look of Jersey (compared to "New Jersey") to the music used on the show to a breakdown of where the Soprano Family gets its income to even the types of nail designs that Carmela and Adriana had over the years. The major cast members all wrote their own essays about their characters, which contain descriptions interspersed with their own insights on their characters. There is also a section devoted to each character highlighting that character's most distinctive trait (such as Paulie's hair, Artie's mustache, etc.) and giving insider secrets about it (ex: Tony Sirico wakes up at 3am every shoot day, uses an entire can of hairspray, and emerges 3 hours later with Paulie's distinctive hairdo). Finally, the book includes an episode guide up through Season 6A to help refresh your memory of the gist of what happened in each episode. All told, this is an incredible book, and as I said, it is extremely high quality, which you can tell right from the front cover. I highly recommend it to anybody who has watched even one episode and enjoyed what they saw.

I guess you can call this a mini coffee table book, measuring 9" x 11" and sporting a bright red cover with the familiar logo. It's only 190 pages long and an easy read, but I doubt if many people who purchase this book will read every word (as I did). Mostly, it's about the photos and each page is a great example of excellent design and eye-catching typefaces. I'm for all that, of course. I love the way the book looks. I give it 100% for design.

However, this is a difficult book to read. First of all the type is tiny. And then there are often large red or gray titles superimposed on top of the words. This is distracting and the words beneath the red letters were particularly difficult to read. Also, the author expects that everyone who picks up the book will be as familiar with the actors' names as he is and, with the exception of some of the major characters, it was sometimes hard to figure out who he was talking about. This could have been easily resolved with a cast list in either the front or the back of the book. I missed that.

In spite of the difficulty of the design I did read the book. I found much of it fascinating, especially the parts about the painstakingly detailed "behind-the-scenes" preparations for each episode. Everything from the choice of music to authenticity of the props to the New Jersey setting was very interesting. As a native New Yorker who often doubts everything, I found the whole series extremely real and absorbing. I'm sorry to see the series end.

Yes, I definitely recommend the book. It's great to leaf through and the photos will bring a smile of remembrance to your face. But you might just need to use a magnifying glass if you try to read it.

Want the good news or the bad news?

The good news: this book is exceptionally well-done. The pictures are wonderful, and bring back each season in living detail. The text is helpful, especially in understanding more about gabagool...

The bad news: it did not extend all the way to the end of the series. Thus, it will always suffer from not being a complete study of the whole Sopranos catalog. I wonder whether there will be a revised edition of this book now that the whole series is complete...it might be worth waiting for.

This book is essential for Sopranos fans.. with lots of juicy behind-the-scenes details and amazing illustrations. I especially liked the six pages dedicated to the Pine Barrens episode from season 3.

I'm a long-time Sopranos fan, and feel this book covers every detail! Whether you've been an avid viewer or are new to the scene, buying this book explains everything from castings to Jersey to each episode.

This book is definately a must-have for all Soprano's fans. It gives you more insight into the characters as well as shows you photos from different episodes. It gives you a behind-the-scenes look from conception to production. I cannot wait to give this to all my Soprano-loving friends!

Fans of the HBO television series "The Sopranos" will love this book, which spans from the start of the show to the first half of the sixth season. The book contains interviews with creator David Chase and all the main cast members. There's a bunch of behind-the-scenes information, including how the idea of the show first came about, which actors were originally considered for different roles, and what goes into the production of each episode. I learned some new things about the show by reading this book: For instance, did you know that John Ventimiglia, who plays the character of Artie Bucco, was originally considered for the role of Christopher? Also, Steven R. Schirripa wore a fat suit during the first few seasons of the show while portraying the character of Bobby "Bacala" Baccalieri. There's also information about the music featured in the show, all the different sets, the role of food in the series, and an entire chapter devoted to the infamous Pine Barrens episode, which features Paulie and Christopher getting lost in the woods. All in all, this is a great collection of Sopranos-related info that is a must-have for fans.

Any Sopranos fan will appreciate the bits of trivia in this great book, jampacked with cool pictures of the cast. Note: does not include the final episodes of Season 6. Still worth it though.

This is a great commentary on the back-story of the show, actors, and show creator.
The actors tell us how they felt about the characters they played. It has some interesting anecdotes, great photos, and great insight into each character.
It even contains my favorite quotes, like when Christopher says "Garbage is our bread and butter", to which Tony replies "was". Or when Patsy and one of his crew try to extort the new coffee chain and the crew guy ask "How would headquarters feel if a brick came through the window?, to which the manager replied "they've got like ten thousand stores in North America, I don't think they'd feel anything"
The episode guide really good because it takes you through each episode which stirred the same feelings I had as I watched the particular episode.
It's doesn't cover the full series but gets you close enough to the end.

First of all I love this book, the print is beautiful, the pages very illustrated with gorgeous pictures and information, and the content relevant and semi up-to-date.

But for HBO to release the 'deluxe' edition with the full end of series and added content is really a slap to any consumers face who bought this.
Businesses increasingly are ignoring customer concerns, and I think a notification that this book was going to be followed by a more complete one would have been really appreciated. Due to this i'm pretty insulted that HBO would pull such a lame marketing stunt, and i'm sure I am not the only one.
Would I buy the deluxe edition now owning this? Definitely not, that would be mental.