Welcome to Wisteria Lane: On America's Favorite Desperate Housewives (Smart Pop series) [Paperback]

Leah Wilson (Editor), Evelyn Vaughn (Collaborator), Sarah Zettel (Collaborator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2006 | Series: Smart Pop series

Revisit the first season of the hit television show Desperate Housewives, with its outrageous humor, absorbing mysteries, and deliciously naughty images of suburbia. What was behind the show's immediate, widespread appeal? Why did the show strike a chord with modern women?

Welcome to Wisteria Lane's contributors take on everything from sex to suburbia. Television Without Pity recapper Evany Thomas takes on female friendship, and Desperate Housewives as just latest incarnation of the female foursome. Beth Kendrick takes on mothering and motherhood, and predicts Susan, Bree, and Lynette's kids' fates. Lani Diane Rich explains how Desperate Housewives is not, and is, a typical soap. And much more!

Not a typical fan guide, Welcome to Wisteria Lane takes you right back to the beginning and the question that was on everyone’s mind: Just what is it about these Desperate Housewives that holds us all in thrall?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Leah Wilson graduated from Duke University with a degree in Culture and Modern Fiction and is currently Editor-in-Chief, Smart Pop, at BenBella Books. She lives in Cambridge, Mass.

Product Details

• Paperback: 157 pages
• Publisher: Smart Pop (April 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932100792
• ISBN-13: 978-1932100792
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,570,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Your Typical Publication June 23, 2006

By Jessica Ilko

Format:Paperback

If the intention of "Welcome to Wisteria Lane" was to capitalize on the (now waning) popularity of Desperate Housewives, they could have produced another fact book; full of pictures, biographies, timelines, and really nothing the average regularly-viewing fan didn't already know. How "Welcome to Wisteria Lane" differs from this kind of "quick buck" is that it is comprised of thoughtful essays that go beyond Bree is So Uptight! and GASP, Gabby's Sleeping With Her Gardener.

The writing techniques of the various contributors vary. Some (mostly near the beginning of the book) relate their own lives to that of the Desperate Houswife they feel most closely resembles them. While the first few essays are admittedly of the standard variety (Go Lynette, the only "real" housewife! and the like), drawing parallels between the lives of the housewives and the lives of the authors is a valid method of exploring and relating to the show. Part of Desperate Housewives appeal lies in the title: there are many housewives, and quite a few of them are desperate. Affairs with gardeners, vehicular homicide and suicides aside, the reason many viewers tune in to Desperate Housewives is to try and catch glimpses of their own lives in that of Susan, Bree, Lynette, and Gabrielle's experiences. An author exploring their own relation to the show is no more self-serving than any viewer who sits in front of their television screen and reacts approvingly or disapprovingly to the housewives' decisions.

In the middle of the book, the collection begins to pick up steam, with essays exploring sex in the suburban settings of classic television shows in relation to it's use in Desperate Houswives. Another delves into Edie Britt's role as the outsider perspective on Wisteria Lane that the show's narrative tropes and character-building revolves around. Yet another interprets the show as a morality play, with each character representing a traditional vice.

If a potential buyer is interested in another factbook on Desperate Housewives, or an expose on the backstage secrets of the show, or a simple recap of the plot to date, this is not the book for you. If the potential buyer is interested in a decent collection of scholarly essays exploring topics both directly and indirectly related to the show, "Welcome to Wisteria Lane" is worth the purchase.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Psychoanalysis February 9, 2007

By O. Brown HALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

****

As a committed fan of Desperate Housewives, I enjoyed this collection of 17 fun essays probing various ideas, opinions, and critiques about DH. The topics were diverse and thought provoking. For example, one essay was entirely about DH homes, called "Oh Give Me a Home: Deconstructing the Houses of Desperate Housewives". Another essay was "Why I Hate Lynette and Why That Could Be a Compliment"; yet another was identifying with Lynette. It was indeed a type of psychoanalysis of the characters, the episodes, the themes, etc. But for a fan, this type of analysis is far from dull.

The writing style is interesting, often tongue-in-cheek, with about half of the writers having previously been attorneys, and the other half professional writers. I would call the writing style in between an academic tome and a fan book---for me a perfect, thought-provoking, intelligent adventure of a book.

Recommended.

****

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good ideas but needing more depth September 2, 2006

By bohemian theologian

Format:Paperback

I found this book online and I could not put it down! I am a geek for feminism and pop culture pieces so it made this a fun read before reading academic literature. Being really into gender studies I find the TV show desperate housewives addicting because there is a lot of fascinating depictions in the show about the lives of suburbian women.

The book is probably better with cultural criticism from a literary light. However I must admit that it would have been nice though to have some connections with Feminine Mystique or to be looking at more of the social science patterns that Desperate Houswives does or does not reflect. Some of the levels of thinking seemed more like essays from an introductary college class than some detailed cultural analysis. However it does give you a spring board for some of the many things that seemed wrapped up in the TV show desperate houswives and could use more depth and detail for making the cases about what is going on with it.

Also, in the end, I still love the show!!!! If you are a desperate housewives fan learning to think criticially about the show is not a bad idea because it helps us grapple with the question "why are we so engrossed by this show" from a critical light instead of just and adoring perspective on the brillinat show.