Description
Mad Men spun inventive storytelling, rich characterization, and symbol-laden gamesmanship into an entrancing puzzle. Its drama follows the life of Donald Draper, a brilliant but deeply damaged Madison Avenue adman. Its story spans March 1960 through November 1970, refracting the lives of Don's home and work families, as well as American history, through his broken soul.
What did it all mean?
Mad Men Carousel will keep viewers company as they try to answer that question for themselves. This book collects all of TV and movie critic Matt Zoller Seitz's celebrated Mad Men recaps for the first time, including never-before-published essays on the show's first three seasons. Seitz's writing digs deep into the show's themes, performances, and filmmaking, examining complex and sometimes confounding aspects of the series. All seven seasons and ninety-two episodes are covered.
Each episode review also includes brief explanations of locations, events, consumer products, and scientific advancements that are important to the characters, such as P.J. Clarke's restaurant and the old Penn Station; the inventions of the birth control pill, the Xerox machine, and the Apollo Lunar Module; the release of the Beatles' Revolver and the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds; and all the wars, protests, assassinations, and murders that cast a bloody pall over a chaotic decade.
Mad Men Carousel is named after an iconic moment from the show's first-season finale, “The Wheel,” wherein Don delivers an unforgettable pitch for a new slide projector that's centered on the idea of nostalgia: “the pain from an old wound.” This book will soothe the most ardent Mad Men fan's nostalgia for the show. New fans, who will want to binge-watch their way through one of the most popular TV shows in recent memory, will find an episode-by-episode guide to accompany their viewing experience. Longtime fans of Mad Men or of Seitz's writing will discover an engaging, thoughtful, and entertaining companion to one of the most multilayered and mercurial TV shows of all time.
It's the perfect gift for Mad Men fans and obsessives.
What did it all mean?
Mad Men Carousel will keep viewers company as they try to answer that question for themselves. This book collects all of TV and movie critic Matt Zoller Seitz's celebrated Mad Men recaps for the first time, including never-before-published essays on the show's first three seasons. Seitz's writing digs deep into the show's themes, performances, and filmmaking, examining complex and sometimes confounding aspects of the series. All seven seasons and ninety-two episodes are covered.
Each episode review also includes brief explanations of locations, events, consumer products, and scientific advancements that are important to the characters, such as P.J. Clarke's restaurant and the old Penn Station; the inventions of the birth control pill, the Xerox machine, and the Apollo Lunar Module; the release of the Beatles' Revolver and the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds; and all the wars, protests, assassinations, and murders that cast a bloody pall over a chaotic decade.
Mad Men Carousel is named after an iconic moment from the show's first-season finale, “The Wheel,” wherein Don delivers an unforgettable pitch for a new slide projector that's centered on the idea of nostalgia: “the pain from an old wound.” This book will soothe the most ardent Mad Men fan's nostalgia for the show. New fans, who will want to binge-watch their way through one of the most popular TV shows in recent memory, will find an episode-by-episode guide to accompany their viewing experience. Longtime fans of Mad Men or of Seitz's writing will discover an engaging, thoughtful, and entertaining companion to one of the most multilayered and mercurial TV shows of all time.
It's the perfect gift for Mad Men fans and obsessives.
A Note From the Publisher
About the Author:
Matt Zoller Seitz is the TV critic for New York Magazine, the editor-in-chief of RogerEbert.com, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism, and the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Wes Anderson Collection (Abrams, 2013) and The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel (Abrams, 2015), as well as the forthcoming The Oliver Stone Experience (Abrams, 2016). He is the founder and original editor of The House Next Door, now a part of Slant Magazine, and the publisher of Press Play, a blog of film and TV criticism and video essays.
A Brooklyn-based writer and filmmaker, Seitz has written, narrated, edited, or produced more than a hundred hours’ worth of video essays about cinema history and style for The Museum of the Moving Image and The L Magazine, among other outlets. His five-part 2009 video essay, “Wes Anderson: The Substance of Style,” was later spun off into The Wes Anderson Collection, and his 2008 video essay series “Oliver Stone: The Official History” is the partial basis for The Oliver Stone Experience.
Advance Praise
"Matt Zoller Seitz's brilliantly elaborate dissection and exploration of this equally complex series makes this collection absolutely essential for Mad Men obsessives like myself."—Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Aimee Mann
"I envy anyone who has never watched Mad Men and gets to experience it for the first time with the invaluably perceptive Matt Zoller Seitz close at hand. For the rest of us, this addictive and rewarding deep-dive into every episode is an irresistible reason to revisit a great series."—Mark Harris, author of Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of New Hollywood and Five
"Took me back to the days when you’d actually look forward to your favorite TV hour, the immersive pleasure bath of now what are they going to do?"—David Chase, creator of The Sopranos
"Matt Zoller Seitz’s recaps are in service to Mad Men’s excellence and complexity. First-rate work."—David Milch, creator of Deadwood and writer-producer for NYPD Blue
"In this gorgeous collection of recaps, Matt Zoller Seitz seeks the wisdom within Matthew Weiner’s visionary television show, examining it from every angle, shaking it like a snow globe. A treat for anyone who cares about television."—Emily Nussbaum, TV critic for The New Yorker
"Pithy, witty, smart, and from the heart: That’s what we expect from a classic Don Draper pitch, and Matt Zoller Seitz captures all of these qualities in his must-read Mad Men recaps."—Maureen Ryan, TV critic for The Huffington Post
"Matt Zoller Seitz writes about television more passionately and compellingly than any other critic writing today. With Mad Men, he’s found his Shangri-La. Mad Men Carousel is essential reading for fans like me, who eagerly awaited his trenchant and witty analyses almost as much as the groundbreaking show itself. Thought-provoking and wildly entertaining, this brilliant collection of essays makes me want to revisit all seven seasons of the greatest American television show ever produced."—Robert Falls, artistic director of Chicago’s Goodman Theatre
"I envy anyone who has never watched Mad Men and gets to experience it for the first time with the invaluably perceptive Matt Zoller Seitz close at hand. For the rest of us, this addictive and rewarding deep-dive into every episode is an irresistible reason to revisit a great series."—Mark Harris, author of Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of New Hollywood and Five
"Took me back to the days when you’d actually look forward to your favorite TV hour, the immersive pleasure bath of now what are they going to do?"—David Chase, creator of The Sopranos
"Matt Zoller Seitz’s recaps are in service to Mad Men’s excellence and complexity. First-rate work."—David Milch, creator of Deadwood and writer-producer for NYPD Blue
"In this gorgeous collection of recaps, Matt Zoller Seitz seeks the wisdom within Matthew Weiner’s visionary television show, examining it from every angle, shaking it like a snow globe. A treat for anyone who cares about television."—Emily Nussbaum, TV critic for The New Yorker
"Pithy, witty, smart, and from the heart: That’s what we expect from a classic Don Draper pitch, and Matt Zoller Seitz captures all of these qualities in his must-read Mad Men recaps."—Maureen Ryan, TV critic for The Huffington Post
"Matt Zoller Seitz writes about television more passionately and compellingly than any other critic writing today. With Mad Men, he’s found his Shangri-La. Mad Men Carousel is essential reading for fans like me, who eagerly awaited his trenchant and witty analyses almost as much as the groundbreaking show itself. Thought-provoking and wildly entertaining, this brilliant collection of essays makes me want to revisit all seven seasons of the greatest American television show ever produced."—Robert Falls, artistic director of Chicago’s Goodman Theatre
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781419720635 |
| PRICE | US$27.50 (USD) |
Available on NetGalley
| (PDF) |
| (PDF) |
