This is a book I mostly skimmed, rather than studied, and it is perhaps another book in which my objective in reading it was probably at cross purposes with the author's objective in writing it.

I came to the TV show Mad Men late--in fact I've watched the entire series during the first half of this year. My husband was watching the series, and, being in the same room while it was on, I joined him in about the 5th season. I then went back and watched the first four seasons. I enjoyed the show, particularly as a reminder of what living through those times was like. I had truly forgotten how hard it was for women starting in a "man's" profession back then, and how entitled many men felt to belittle women.

Anyway, I think I was expecting a light-hearted, witty, and fun look at the Mad Men characters, and I found the book rather heavy-handed. It begins with a fair amount of discussion of psychoanalytic theory which was somewhat academic and dry. When the author begins discussing the characters, their decisions and quirks, she does so through the lens of serious psychoanalysis, which on the one hand I found obvious and simplistic, and on the other hand found presented in a dry, academic way. While she is a competent writer technically, she writes without wit and humor. The book takes itself far too seriously. I also found it somewhat repetitious, since it frequently discusses individual incidents from the point of view of multiple characters.

FYI, it covers only the first four seasons.

For serious fans of the show only ( )

A psychoanalyst’s view of the characters and culture of TV’s Mad Men. It’s okay; it’s a basic analysis with a couple points that stood out for me: 1) the contrast between how Peggy and Joan become powerful -- Peggy through her own work and Joan through affiliation with powerful people (men); and 2) the current ubiquity of narcissism (entitlement; decreased personal awareness/responsibility). Written after the fourth season, it stays true through the seasons that have aired since. ( )

Does what it does very well. Encyclopedic knowledge of the show and interpretation of the characters that's solid enough to allow Newman to pretty effectively project their trajectories in seasons that hadn't happened yet at the time this was written (end of fourth season). Interesting examination from the psychoanalytic perspective of the Culture of Narcissism. ( )