The Essential Sopranos Reader

by Lavery, David; Howard, Douglas L.; Levinson, Paul; Bianculli, David

• ISBN13: 9780813130125
• ISBN10: 0813130123
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-06-24
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Kentucky

Summary

The Sopranos is recognized as the most successful cable series in the history of television. The Washington Post has called the popular series, winner of twenty-one Emmys and five Golden Globes, "the television landmark that leaves other landmarks in the dust." In every aspect -- narrative structure, visual artistry, writing, intertextuality, ensemble acting, controversial themes, dark humor, and unflinching examinations of American life -- The Sopranos has had few equals.Offering a definitive final assessment of the series, The Essential Sopranos Reader aims to comprehensively examine the show's themes and enduring cultural significance. Gender and ethnicity, the role of dreams, the rebirth of HBO, the series' controversial finale, and other topics come under scrutiny in this highly accessible, engaging collection. The book concludes with an interview with Dominic Chianese, who played Uncle Junior in all six seasons of the show.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
The Sopranos, David Chase, HBO, and Television
The Sopranos as Tipping Point in the Second Coming of HBO	p. 7
From Made Men to Mad Men: What Matthew Weiner Learned from David Chase	p. 17
The Sopranos: If Nothing Is Real, You Have Overpaid for Your Carpet	p. 23
Author(iz)ing Chase	p. 41
Characters
ôHalf a Wiseguyö: Paulie Walnuts, Meet Tom Stoppard	p. 57
Christopher, Osama, and A.J.: Contemporary Narcissism and Terrorism in The Sopranos	p. 65
ôWhen It Comes to Daughters, All Bets Are Offö: The Seductive Father-Daughter Relationship of Tony and Meadow Soprano	p. 81
Gendering The Sopranos
ôBlabbermouth Cuntsö; or, Speaking in Tongues: Narrative Crises for Women in The Sopranos and Feminist Dilemmas	p. 93
Honoring the Social Compact: The Last Temptation of Melfi	p. 105
A ôFinookö in the Crew: Vito Spatafore, The Sopranos, and the Queering of the Mafia Genre	p. 114
Cinematic Concerns
The Producers: The Dangers of Filmmaking in The Sopranos	p. 127
Comfortably Numb? The Sopranos, New Brutalism, and the Last Temptation of Chris	p. 137
Dreams and Therapy
Fishes and Football Coaches: The Narrative Necessity of Dreams in The Sopranos	p. 149
From Here to InFinnerty: Tony Soprano and the American Way	p. 157
ôWhatever Happened to Stop and Smell the Roses?ö: The Sopranos as Anti-therapeutic Narrative	p. 166
Ethnic and Social Concerns
Mangia Mafia! Food, Punishment, and Cultural Identity in The Sopranos	p. 183
The Guinea as Tragic Hero: The Complex Representation of Italian Americans in The Sopranos	p. 196
ôAll Caucasians Look Alikeö: Dreams of Whiteness at the End of The Sopranos	p. 208
Images of Justice and The Sopranos
Representations of Law and Justice in The Sopranos: An Introduction	p. 221
Lawyer-Client Relations as Seen in The Sopranos	p. 229
ôThis Isn't a Negotiationö: ôGetting to Yesö with Tony Soprano	p. 232
The Price of Stereotype: The Representation of the Mafia in Italy and the United States in The Sopranos	p. 243
The Image of Justice in The Sopranos	p. 246
Narrative and Intertextuality
ôFunny about God, and Fate, and Shit Like Thatö: The Imminent Unexpected in The Sopranos	p. 257
The Sopranos and History	p. 266
Silence in The Sopranos	p. 277
Cut to Black: The Finale and the Sopranos Legacy
ôWhat's Different between You and Meö: Carmela, the Audience, and the End	p. 289
Unpredictable but Inevitable: That Last Scene	p. 297
No Justice for All: The FBI, Cut to Black, and David Chase's Final Hit	p. 303
The Sopranos and the Closure Junkies	p. 313
Acknowledgments	p. 317
Characters	p. 319
Episode Guide	p. 323
Intertextual References and Allusions in Season Six	p. 327
A Conversation with Dominic Chianese, The Sopranos' Uncle Junior	p. 339
Bibliography	p. 363
List of Contributors	p. 377
Index	p. 383
Additional Essays Available Online at http://davidlavery.net/sopranos
ôEven Brendan Filone's Got an Identity and He's Deadö: Christopher Moltisanti and the Reflexive Subjectivity of the Constructed Self
Carmela Soprano as Emma Bovary: European Culture, Taste, and Class in The Sopranos
The Sopranos as Art Cinema
Tony and Dora: Mastering the Art of Countertransference
The Sopranos: Asleep
Hospital Scenes, Nursing, and Health Care in The Sopranos
The New Serial Television Narrative: The Sopranos and Relay Race Structure
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