The New Book Review

This blog, #TheNewBookReview, is "new" because it eschews #bookbigotry. It lets readers, reviewers, authors, and publishers expand the exposure of their favorite reviews, FREE. Info for submissions is in the "Send Me Your Fav Book Review" circle icon in the right column below. Find resources to help your career using the mini search engine below. #TheNewBookReview is a multi-award-winning blog including a MastersInEnglish.org recommendation.

Showing posts with label Mash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mash. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Reviewer Dr. Wesley Britton Urges "Mash" Fans to Partake in "Chunks and Bites"

TV’s M*A*S*H: The Ultimate Guide Book 

Ed Solomonson & Mark O’Neill

Publisher ‏ : ‎ BearManor Media (November 5, 2009)

Genre: Entertainment Guide Book

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 828 pages

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1593935013

ISBN-13 ‏ :

Available on Amazon


Reviewer Dr. Wesley Britton Urges "Mash" Fans to Partake in "Chunks and Bites 

 

Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton

 

In one episode of the recent CNN series, “The History of the Sit-Com,” several commentators debated over what was the best sit-com of all time-either Seinfeld or Friends.


Oh good grief. Whatever merits those classic shows had, they didn’t come close to the ultimate sit-com of all-time- M*A*S*h.  No other television program comes close to being seen by more people, year after year, to the present day.    No other program evolved as much as  M*A*S*h during its 11 year run of 256 epfisodes; no other program offered so much situational comedy/ medical drama laced with social commentary;   no other program made as many cutting-edge creative choices over the years as M*A*S*h.   In short, not many shows warrant an over 800 page analysis of their legacy like Ed Solomonson & Mark O’Neill did for M*A*S*h. 


To be fair, it’s hard to believe anyone could ever supersede this deep-dive analysis into all things M*A*S*h.  For one thing, the tome is chock-full of interviews with the creators and participants going behind-the-scenes of the show’s creation and production process. As the years go by, many of those participants have left us and this book documents many of their observations for perhaps the last time.


But not leaving any stone unturned is an often mixed blessing.    How many viewers ever cared about registration numbers on the jeeps? Or how the colors of bathrobes weren’t always consistent? Or the origins of every scrap of music heard in the series, whether recordings or performers singing or parodying popular melodies?  Or the professional histories of bit players who appeared in only one episode? 


            For my taste, I wasn’t impressed by the truncated episode summaries. Frequently, the plot of much of the episode was sketched out-to a point. Concluding scenes were most often skipped over completely. Important developments in character lives and relationships were skimmed over or not mentioned at all.  

Still, uneven as the tome is, it’s indispensable for any M*A*S*h fan.  The 800 plus pages more than carry their weight with information, insights, and memories to keep any M*A*S*h viewer turning the pages hunting out the nuggets we want, ignoring the dross we don’t.   It’s not a cover-to-cover read but rather a reference book to digest in chunks and bites. 

 

 

This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Fri. Sept 3, 2021:

 

 


More About the Reviewer

Dr. Wesley Britton is an author and frequent reviewer for BookPleasures and #TheNewBookReview. He has a special interest in fantasy and science fiction as well books related to film and celebrity.  Use this blog's handy search engine to find more of his reviews (and suggestions for great reading) on this site. Search by genre or his name. 

More About #TheNewBookReview Blog 

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. Please see submission guidelines in a tab at the top of this blog's home page or go directly to the submission guidelines at http://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews or to the guideline tab at the top of the home page of this blog. Authors and publishers who do not yet have reviews or want more may use Lois W. Stern's "Authors Helping Authors" service for requesting reviews. Find her guidelines in a tab at the top of the home page, too. Carolyn Wilhelm is our IT expert, an award-winning author, a veteran educator and also contributes reviews and posts on other topics related to books. Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing