Difficult Men: Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution: From The Sopranos and The Wire to Mad Men and Breaking Bad [Unabridged] [Audible Audio Edition] Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B00DP4YAYA | Format: PDF, EPUB
Difficult Men: Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution: From The Sopranos and The Wire to Mad Men and Breaking Bad Epub FreeDownload books file now Difficult Men: Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution: From The Sopranos and The Wire to Mad Men and Breaking Bad Epub Free from with Mediafire Link Download Link
A riveting and revealing look at the shows that helped cable television drama emerge as the signature art form of the 21st century
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the landscape of television began an unprecedented transformation. While the networks continued to chase the lowest common denominator, a wave of new shows, first on premium-cable channels like HBO and then basic-cable networks like FX and AMC, dramatically stretched television's narrative inventiveness, emotional resonance, and artistic ambition. No longer necessarily concerned with creating always-likable characters, plots that wrapped up neatly every episode, or subjects that were deemed safe and appropriate, shows such as The Wire, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Deadwood, The Shield, and more tackled issues of life and death, love and sexuality, addiction, race, violence, and existential boredom. Just as the big novel had in the 1960s and the subversive films of New Hollywood had in 1970s,television shows became the place to go to see stories of the triumph and betrayals of the American Dream at the beginning of the 21st century.
This revolution happened at the hands of a new breed of auteur: the all-powerful writer-showrunner. These were men nearly as complicated, idiosyncratic, and "difficult" as the conflicted protagonists that defined the genre. Given the chance to make art in a maligned medium, they fell upon the opportunity with unchecked ambition.
Combining deep reportage with cultural analysis and historical context, Brett Martin recounts the rise and inner workings of a genre that represents not only a new golden age for television but also a cultural watershed. Difficult Menfeatures extensive interviews with all the major players, including David Chase(The Sopranos), David Simon and Ed Burns (The Wire), Matthew Weiner and Jon Hamm (Mad Men), David Milch (NYPD Blue, Deadwood), and Alan Ball (SixFeet Under), in ...
Books with free ebook downloads available Difficult Men: Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution: From The Sopranos and The Wire to Mad Men and Breaking Bad [Unabridged] [Audible Audio Edition] Epub Free
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 10 hours and 18 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Blackstone Audio
- Audible.com Release Date: July 3, 2013
- Whispersync for Voice: Ready
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00DP4YAYA
I think this interesting, detailed book will be best enjoyed by those of a "certain age," who can recall the original creation of each step along the way. If you're in your mid-40s, you might very well have watched "Hill Street Blues," and realized, when Hill and Renko got shot, that it was something different, even if you weren't sure how or why.
Author Brett Martin answers that 'why' and 'how' for many of the current high-quality shows we take totally for granted. The 'showrunners' behind "The Sopranos," "The Wire," "Mad Men," etc., are creative producers at the top of their game, but none of them walked into a studio and just started making shows; their personal timelines date back decades, with a surprising amount of collaboration between them. Each had to overcome obstacles and a lack of network faith.
Martin does not recap show plots and stories. Rather it walks the reader through the decisions, proposals, and occasional lucky breaks and coincidences that led to each show's genesis - FX's "The Shield" was greenlit just before 9/11 for example; another two weeks, and it's probably never made. So it's not about the shows, but the offices that created the shows - it's much more interesting than that might sound.
Each of these shows required a complete commitment from its creator - and a lot of breaks in-between. Anybody who ever thinks "oh, creative people are just lucky" is an idiot. They made their own 'luck' with a single-minded devotion and talent that 99 percent of people can't relate to, and Martin's biographical accounts fill in those blanks.
I enjoyed reading this book for the most part, and I've given it two stars for the areas where it succeeds, but given the cover, I thought it was going to be more about the creative process behind these shows, not just writers but actors. (I'll admit - I skipped the parts about Mad Men and Deadwood because I haven't seen these shows yet.) I think I was expecting more of a Peter Biskind type of exposé and critique. The parts about the Sopranos were wonderful, and the creative process in the writer's room and the tensions were fascinating to me. I also loved the background on The Wire. Yet, when the book was over, I was still hungry for a conversation about what these shows mean to people, a conversation about Walter White and Tony Soprano and what they represent in terms of masculinity in our age.
The difficult men in the title is really about David Chase, David Simon, Ed Burns, etc, and the auteur theory and I don't think that is clear from the cover. If you are interested in their biographies, their resumes, the shows they worked on before and their personal inspirations as they brought these revolutionary shows to television, then this is the book for you.
But as a critique of the shows, a conversation about themes, or a real breakdown of the characters of Tony Soprano or Walter White, or masculinity, that's not this book. While I think the creators and their biographies are interesting, the writers behind the shows are treated like the real heroes (in some ways they are) but unfortunately, they aren't as fascinating to read about as the characters they have created- reading about writers writing isn't everyone's idea of fun. Perhaps this is unfair because each show is so rich, it deserves its own book.
Book Preview
Difficult Men: Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution: From The Sopranos and The Wire to Mad Men and Breaking Bad Download
Please Wait...