Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — The Wire by Rafael Alvarez.
The failure of the drug war, the betrayal of the working class, the bureaucratization of the culture and the cost to individual dignity -- such are the themes of the drama's first two seasons. And with every new episode of season three and beyond, another layer of modern urban life will be revealed.
Gritty, densely layered, and realistic, "The Wire" is series television at its very best, told from the point of view of the Baltimore police, their targets, and many of those caught in the middle. Rafael Alvarez -- a reporter, essayist, and staff writer for the show -- brings the reader inside, detailing many of the real-life incidents and personalities that have inspired the show's storylines and characters, providing the reader with insights into the city of Baltimore -- itself an undeniable character in the series.
Packed with photographs and featuring an introduction by series creator and executive producer David Simon, as well as essays by acclaimed authors George Pelecanos, Laura Lippman, and Anthony Walton, here is an invaluable resource for both fans of the show and viewers who have yet to discover "The Wire.
But "The Wire" is filmed entirely in Baltimore, conceived by Baltimoreans, and written by rust-belt journalists and novelists intimately familiar with the urban landscape.
It's as close as television has yet come to allowing an American city to tell its own tale. Get A Copy. Hardcover , pages.
More Details Original Title. Other Editions 9. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Wire , please sign up. I'm guessing there's a lot of difference between this edition and the edition published in But is there a lot of difference between this edition and the edition? See 1 question about The Wire…. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews.
Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Mar 24, karen rated it it was amazing Shelves: nonfictions , teevee , fuck-you-bedbugs. View all 46 comments. Jan 11, Paul Bryant rated it really liked it Shelves: crime-grime , television. No, me neither. I beseech thee! How cool are we? David Simon, p The Wire is the most anti-tv show out there. The vision is almost completely uncompromising, makes almost no concessions to the audience.
Serious tv drama was done by the BBC, and that was that. Things changed in the s and now you would have to be Tommy the blind deaf and dumb boy or his similarly-afflicted sister Tammy not to notice that American tv drama is not just the best but is continually redefining what is possible and how good the best can be.
Yeah, the sweep, yeah the Tolstoyevskian Dickensian panorama, the anatomy of a city and yeah the America You Do Not See On Television, and yeah modern urban life, the horror, the horror. All of that.
The Wire made me look at my tv for hours and hours and purr like a cat. But just mention the rollcall of detectives from Hommy — Munch, the great meldrick lewis, the Shakespearian Pembleton, Kay, the wounded Bayliss, the tragic Giardello, the self-immolating Kellerman — I weep, I howl. That was my show. What happened? Back to the Wire. Not once, but twice! She was from texas and had a drawl a mile wide! That was the best American-doing-English ever.
I found this out half way through series four BM looks like a character from the worst kind of cliched thriller. Like HBO said Okay David, love the show, love it, but you have to admit — not many women, and no sex at all!
So he stomped off and slotted these scenes in. The Wire does not go there. The Wire only skates on the surface of the private lives of these big men. In its hectic ambition to encompass the whole world of Baltimore some important aspects are either elided or remained elusive or were backed away from.
In Godfather the rise of Vito Corleone was mapped out in detail. Oh but what about Bubs? Well, Bubs is a completely exceptional fiend — supersnitch, court jester, heart of gold, resourceful, maybe the only character we actually love in the whole epic. They mooch up to the corner, make their buy, and mooch off.
How do they live? Well, except that my family all two of them insist on dragging me into watching Strictly Come Dancing and The X Factor.
And X Factor is like some kind of annual evangelical religious revival which sweeps Britain every autumn. Remember when John Lennon said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus? Well, The X Factor is bigger than Jesus. Watching X Factor stops me from becoming a complete elitist. It gives me the common touch. The Wire is perhaps the first tv show where the main audience has been like me — we saw it on the box sets. This may be a very important consideration for future programme makers.
The Wire is obviously great, a wondrous milestone, and is an essential meditation on a timeless human problem, which is the ineradicable desire of people, all people, to get loaded, to get out of their heads, to get enough medicine inside them to settle if only for a fleeting moment their frayed lives, and the equally adamantine determination of their rulers to stop them. In Baltimore in the early 21st century it was heroin and cocaine. George Pelecanos : I make my living writing about people who, because of an accident of birth and circumstance, are less fortunate than me…I often say that my mission is to illuminate and dignify their lives…What goes unsaid is the gnawing feeling that I am also exploiting them for my personal gain.
And finally : Snoop, played by Felicia Pearson, is the scariest female villain ever. She haunts my dreams, pursuing me to a vacant, nail gun in hand. Analyse that! View all 27 comments. Episode by episode guide interspersed with a multitude of essays, interviews and background to one of the greatest shows ever aired HBO's The Wire. This book has a code Feb 17, Christine rated it really liked it Shelves: minority-and-women-writers , movie-and-tv-related.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The history of television is littered with intelligent product that never got the ratings, acclaim, or chance to achieve the success of the flashy but simplistic C. One recent example of this would be Southland , which was granted a second chance at life by TNT.
Perhaps the greatest under-appreciated show was The Wire , a show that HBO allowed to survive for far longer than any network would have. The Wire , too, suffered from low ratings. Unlike popular shows, Homicide and The Wire did not follow a strict format or procedural. In The Wire , especially, ideas and storylines would be developed and showcased over a season or, in a few cases, seasons. The Wire is stark, but it offers more than a simple black and white look at a problem.
Drug dealers are bad, but the causes of the drug society are also ruthlessly examined and condemned. Drug addicts are shown with a strong degree of pity and no stereotyping. The police may be good, but they are flowed in terms of character and in terms of power structure.
Such contrast is best illustrated by the character of Omar, a stick-up man who is noble, who has his own code, but who also knows what he is — a person who makes a living off of illegal drugs, just like the lawyer questioning him. Johnny come lately, Soprano watching suburbnites. In Philadelphia, Mayor Nutter, a true Wire fan had lottery where the prize was tickets to watch the series finale with the Mayor and stars from the show.
Mayor Nutter even wrote an editorial about the show for the local paper. It was a good one too. Then, Mayor Nutter took some heat for his admiration of the show.
Because politicians might actually get good ideas for a change? What should they watch? Scooby-Doo and the suspect Scooby snacks? For all its tragedy, for all its harshness, The Wire is important because it is true art that holds a mirror up to reality. It is a modern Dickens. The Wire reflects the modern city and reminds us that life and its problems are not simple.
This book offers a look at the first two seasons of The Wire , which sadly means the fourth, and best, season is not mentioned. The readers gets a behind the scenes view of what went into the show, is treated to profiles and interviews not only with the creative team but with the actual people who inspired the characters.
Every plot strand has a basis in reality, and sometimes, like Bubbles, is tragically close to life. Incidentally, the life of the real Bubbles explains why the fictional Bubbles got the ending he did in the last episode. The introduction is by David Simon, one of the creators, and Ed Burns also contributes. If you have never watched Homicide or The Corner , do so. If you have never watched The Wire , smack yourself, and then do so. Then read this book. View 2 comments. Jul 26, John Arfwedson rated it it was amazing.
This book is all about "The Wire", 60 hours of TV spread over 5 years that is, as many before me have said: "The best story ever put on film. It looks at drugs, police, docks, politics, schools, journalism, and race in America top to bottom and side to side, with an authenticity, integrity, detail, depth, and bloody honesty usually only associated with the greatest literature. It's as if Charles Dickens, Eldridge Cleave This book is all about "The Wire", 60 hours of TV spread over 5 years that is, as many before me have said: "The best story ever put on film.
I learned more about my country from this show than I have from any other single source. Yes, it really is that good. This book is the shee-it! And if you know extactly where that comes from, I hope you are reading this review after you have read the book. I read an earlier edition of this, and really can't add much to the original review which is. If you have already read that review, well shee-it, haven't you seen the series yet? This edition includes some expanded sections from the as well as covering all the seasons - most importantly season 4, which was the best.
Liked the obit for Stringer. Interesting book about a truly great TV series - some great articles and vignettes - but the recounting of the story of each episode was a little too much. Nov 02, Kevin rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Wire Fans. I'm a ravenous fan of the HBO series, The Wire, and there's no reason why people should continue to not watch this show.
Three seasons are on DVD already, and now this companion book. I picked this one up in a bargain bin. There because its such a niche book that I'm sure it probably only sold well in Baltimore itself. But if you like the show, it's fascinating to learn about all the real life Omars and Prop Joes and superhero lesbian homicide detectives, etc. But, anyway, just watch the show, a I'm a ravenous fan of the HBO series, The Wire, and there's no reason why people should continue to not watch this show.
But, anyway, just watch the show, and then you see why someone in the world would actually want to read a TV show companion book. Nov 29, Michael Monforte rated it liked it. Really thought this book would give a lot more in-depth behind the scenes of the real life stories behind the show. While at times it offered that it mostly was episode recaps which I found pointless.
If you bought a book about the show don't you think you would've known what was in the recaps? The recaps themselves were sort of broad anyway but I can't tell if that's a good thing or not. The best part of the book is the essay by creator David Simon that opens the book. While other parts were in Really thought this book would give a lot more in-depth behind the scenes of the real life stories behind the show. While other parts were interesting nothing matched the in-depth look into what the essence of the show was about like that one.
At times I found the book a little self indulgent. How many times can you say this wasn't like any other cop show? Wish the show lived a little longer but with stuff this deep and thought provoking you could find something new every viewing. Jul 28, Derek James Baldwin rated it liked it. A lot of the writing is pretty lazy. It's acceptable - in context - for The Wire to be full of swear words but not acceptable for this book to be e. Just bad writing Mr Alvarez. I read this on Kindle and the format kept switching between roman and italic script for no reason at all.
Made it unpleasant to read at times. Long stretches of italics completely suck to read and it made me wonder if the typesetters have actually had any training in how to present text? Sort it out and republish it properly! View 1 comment. Feb 15, Bryan rated it liked it Shelves: television.
The Wire is over. Long live The Wire. Apr 07, Eric Piotrowski rated it it was amazing Shelves: funny , media , popular-culture. A must-read for any fan of the show. By turns intriguing, funny, and sad, this collection of essays and reflections is packed with excellent details about where the characters come from and how the sausage was made.
The episode summaries are fairly unnecessary, and so maybe this review should lose a star because they're such a large part of the book. But all the other stuff is so engrossing that I just don't feel comfortable giving this less than the max. Huge thumbs up. Dec 06, Catherine rated it liked it.
Strengths of the book? Interviews with writers, actors, etc. However, the book was weak in some key points. I found the organization frustrating. First, episodes are generally listed by their place in the overall series ex. Episode 32, 51, etc as opposed to their location in the season. The only way to know the season beyond recognition is to look at the header.
Secondly, interviews and other secondary analyses are inters Strengths of the book? Secondly, interviews and other secondary analyses are interspersed in among the episodes. To a degree this makes sense, such as reading about Stringer Bell after his exit from the show; however, I found this more distracting than useful. Having all the resources grouped in one place would be far more favourable. I also have some gripes with the writing.
I expected more of Alfarez considering his background; however, unclear pronouns and other basic issues were distracting and potentially misleading if I hadn't watched the series fully. I also found his ways of summarising the episodes odd; he would highlight certain scenes, but not more important ones, or only half describe a key quotation, or just have the quotation indirectly cited.
The Wikipedia episode summaries are not only more concise, but more accurate in some ways. Considering the bulk of the text is episode summary readily available for the most part online or in cheaper texts like Re-up , and in general the text feels roughly written, the benefits of the interviews and other materials, while worthy of praise, don't quite stand up when the text is considered as a whole.
Shelves: , essays-and-criticism , own , film-and-telly , social-commentary. Some of the techniques listed in The Wire: Truth Be Told may require a sound knowledge of Hypnosis, users are advised to either leave those sections or must have a basic understanding of the subject before practicing them. DMCA and Copyright : The book is not hosted on our servers, to remove the file please contact the source url. If you see a Google Drive link instead of source url, means that the file witch you will get after approval is just a summary of original book or the file has been already removed.
Loved each and every part of this book. I will definitely recommend this book to non fiction, mystery lovers. Your Rating:. Your Comment:. Read Online Download.
0コメント