Usually the unauthorized books about shows are the better books of the
series, but this one tried a little too hard I think. And I’m either really
sad (shut-up) or this person needed to watch the show a bit closer. Paul
Challen got a few facts wrong that were just enough to drive me up the wall
and I don’t mind saying this the first paragraph of this review. I’m a huge
fan of the show… I should be if I went out and tracked down all these
unauthorized books of “The West Wing”. A little background… “The West Wing”
is a show created by Aaron Sorkin about the staff of the President that
works with him everyday. In this case, the President is Martin Sheen as
Josiah “Jed” Bartlet whose family has been into politics since his ancestor
was one of the signers of the “Declaration of Independence”. And yes… there
is actually a Josiah Bartlet on the Declaration of Independence. That’s not
what makes the show great though. It’s the dry humor they put into their
everyday conversations and the political-realness they manage to make magic
out of.
This book starts off talking about all the awards this show has won and the
praise that it keeps receiving (which at this time in 2001 had just finished
its first second season). Then it moves into the history of Aaron Sorkin
went from writing “A Few Good Men” to episodes for “The West Wing”. This
was, in theory, a good idea, but becomes a little redundant and drawn out
throughout the chapter. The book moves on to talk about the press’ reaction
to and keeps repeating ‘it’s just a show’. Well, duh! I think I knew that
before I bought the book. The third chapter is really the highlight of the
book as it explores the effect the show has had on the internet and talks
with some creators of the biggest websites dedicated to the show. The author
kind of ruins it and keeps asking each person the same question though and I
got the feeling he only asked each person three questions and just expanded
out by using big words. The book then touches on the re-occurring characters
and then the main characters. This is where the author really fails the
book, because he keeps getting little things about the characters wrong that
I know drives other “The West Wing” fans nuts. Then, of course, we have to
have an episode guide to finish out the book, which I think was just to
waste space in the book and make it thicker.
I was really disappointed with this book, but then the official books I’ve
read on it have been as excellent as the show because they were written by
the same people that make the show so great. I feel this book could have had
better material instead of covering stuff that has been reported about until
the cows have come home and Challen needed to check his facts more on the
characters. I got the feeling this guy wasn’t really a fan of the show, but
just saw a chance to make money off of this show’s popularity. He didn’t
really read his audience and understand that people that probably are
dedicated enough to the show to watch it like me expect a little more. This
wasn’t some biography on the Backstreet Boys. This was supposed to be a fan
dedication to a really good and intelligent show. Somehow I think that point
was missed out and he didn’t even read the cover of his own book.
Title: Inside The West Wing: An Unauthorized Look At Television’s Smartest
Show |
7/4/2005
