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Rating: 
Summary: To see the small is to have insight
Review: Fans of the Sopranos will love this brilliant little book, which explains at least part of the 5-season show's extraordinary popularity -- its intellectual heft. Gathered here are more than two dozen aphorisms by the ancient Chinese philosopher, Lao Tsu expanded by actual dialogue from the Sopranos series. What possible link could television's most popular mobsters have with a millennia-old Chinese philosopher? Plenty, it turns out. The self-identified "sad clown," Tony Soprano (a "capo" can never be a "stunade" -- stupid), wryly identifies his kinship with the Far East in one of his exchanges with his psychiatrist: "Tony: `Well, I am improving. I mean, you gotta participate joyfully in the suffering of the world....' Dr. Melfi: `Your thoughts have kind of an Eastern flavor to them.' Tony: Well... I've lived in Jersey my whole life.'"
It's a small leap from Lao Tsu to another Confucian protégé, Sun Tzu whose "The Art of War" resonates loudly with goombah philosophy, as in Tony's crack: "If your opponent is of choleric temper, irritate him." (episode 308). Like Sun Tzu, the mob is ever mindful of the need for logistics, strategy, and tactics to avoid "taking a hit" -- "the best battle is the battle won without being fought." To avoid Hell and other inconveniences, the invariably Catholic mobsters cynically cast themselves as soldiers locked in perpetual guerrilla warfare - a concept first defined by Sun Tzu. Like all warriors, though, Tony and his boys often ignore that Master's premiere injunction: that there are no winners in war.
This delightful gloss is an indispensable key to the continuing appeal of "The Sopranos." In addition, The book is beautifully designed; I've bought several copies as gifts.
Rating:
Summary: Bada Bing for Thinkers
Review: Fans of the Sopranos will love this brilliant little book, which explains at least part of the 5-season show's extraordinary popularity -- its intellectual heft. Gathered here are more than two dozen aphorisms by the ancient Chinese philosopher, Lao Tsu expanded by actual dialogue from the Sopranos series. What possible link could television's most popular mobsters have with a millennia-old Chinese philosopher? Plenty, it turns out. The self-identified "sad clown," Tony Soprano (a "capo" can never be a "stunade" -- stupid), wryly identifies his kinship with the Far East in one of his exchanges with his psychiatrist: "Tony: 'Well, I am improving. I mean, you gotta participate joyfully in the suffering of the world....' Dr. Melfi: 'Your thoughts have kind of an Eastern flavor to them.' Tony: Well... I've lived in Jersey my whole life.'"
It's a small leap from Lao Tsu to another Confucian protégé, Sun Tzu whose "The Art of War" resonates loudly with goombah philosophy, as in Tony's crack: "If your opponent is of choleric temper, irritate him." (episode 308). Like Sun Tzu, the mob is ever mindful of the need for logistics, strategy, and tactics to avoid "taking a hit" -- "the best battle is the battle won without being fought." To avoid Hell and other inconveniences, the invariably Catholic mobsters cynically cast themselves as soldiers locked in perpetual guerrilla warfare - a concept first defined by Sun Tzu. Like all warriors, though, Tony and his boys often ignore that Master's premiere injunction: that there are no winners in war.
This delightful gloss is an indispensable key to the continuing appeal of "The Sopranos." In addition, The book is beautifully designed; I've bought several copies as gifts.
Rating:
Summary: To see the small is to have insight
Review: For all lovers of the show, the Tao of Bada Bing is the most exciting thing since Ralphie was killed. The editors had the amazing insight to see that putting together the words and wisdom of the Tao with parts of the exhilarating scripts from the Sopranos. At a first glance it is hard to understand how the Sopranos could possibly follow the words of the Tao but as you get into the book you can't help looking at the Sopranos from a completely new perspective. When you read the book it is impossible not the be swept back into the emotions and action of the show, the scripts are just too well written! For all those who are counting down the days until the new season arrives, this book will be perfect to hold you over.
Rating: 
Summary: A MUST for Sopranos fans (others may be a bit confused)
Review: If you're a Sopranos fan and realize that the show deals with a bit more than people getting killed, betrayals, a marriage falling apart, relationships and families -- then this book is for YOU. In fact, it is a MUST for any Sopranos fans.The Tano of Bada Bing! is a masterful idea, beautifully executed (no pun intended), and small but meaty enough so you can take it on a trip. No, I didn't feel ripped off by this book at ALL... in fact I have read it four times already on trips and I love it. The book culls key dialogue from four seasons of the Sopranos and puts them in chapters headed by a piece of immortal wisdom of the Tao Te Ching, the ancient Chinese text underpinning Taoism. YES...there are larger issues in the show's various scenes. And if you're a fan then seeing these larger issues, plus recaping your favorite moments, makes you realize again how much good WRITING is required in television (and film) to bring off an enduring hit. You realize that it isn't actors schitck that sustains the Sopranos but gem-like scripts that have big themes in them. The Taoism is merely a device that gets this point across. Plus, it also serves to wet readers' appetites to find out more about Toaism itself, which isn't a bad idea. The only reason this book shouldn't get five stars is this: there is really no explanation in it about various characters quoted in the key scenes used to illustrate the short Tao material heading up each chapter. So Sopranos fans, or anyone who has an even modest knowledge fo the show, will understand who is saying what -- but a non-fan or non-viewer will have trouble figuring out who the character is who is in each scene. Bottom line: GREAT book for any Sopranos fan who wants to enjoy the show's best moments and consider larger issues than sex, betrayal and violence. A bit confusing for non-Sopranos fans.
Rating: 
Summary: Exploitation publication HBO cash cow
Review: Nothing here beyond this: Large print between hard covers to justify high price (A paperback would have been about 1/8" thick), jumbled quotations from the various Sopranos episodes, chapter headings with fortune cookie level "wisdom", and that's it. This passes for a book?! A silly exercise in pop culture exploitation on the level of a Brittany Spears biography or a National Enquirer advice column. The series is brilliant- this kind of pure exploitation commercialization demeans it. James Gandolfini is right. People take the Sopranos FAR too seriously- especially if they regard this kind of fluff as anything other than another way for HBO to make money.
Rating:
Summary: Exploitation publication HBO cash cow
Review: Nothing here beyond this: Large print between hard covers to justify high price (A paperback would have been about 1/8" thick), jumbled quotations from the various Sopranos episodes, chapter headings with fortune cookie level "wisdom", and that's it. This passes for a book?! A silly exercise in pop culture exploitation on the level of a Brittany Spears biography or a National Enquirer advice column. The series is brilliant- this kind of pure exploitation commercialization demeans it. James Gandolfini is right. People take the Sopranos FAR too seriously- especially if they regard this kind of fluff as anything other than another way for HBO to make money.
Rating:
Summary: The best parts of all 4 seasons of the show
Review: This book is terrific! It groups together thematically most if not all of the main themes and plots of the Sopranos, like Tony's therapy or his relationship to his mother, and allows you to follow their development from season to season. And the quotes from the Tao Te Ching really add a spiritual perspective to life on the Sopranos. All of the excerpts from the shows are presented in easy to follow dialogue format, and my friends and I were reading them out loud to each other all day! Funny, sometimes very serious, and always faithful to the spirit of the show.
Rating:
Summary: Bada Wow!
Review: Who would have thought there is a logical link between the centuries-old tenets of the Tao Te Ching and the "whack-y" antics of TV's most un-Zenlike family, the Sopranos? The editors of this book, that's who! With some of the best and most enlightening dialogue from all 4 season of The Sopranos, The Tao of Bada Bing! offers a truly unique way of reliving the great writing from the show. One of the most original TV tie-in books I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Bada Wow!
Review: Who would have thought there is a logical link between the centuries-old tenets of the Tao Te Ching and the "whack-y" antics of TV's most un-Zenlike family, the Sopranos? The editors of this book, that's who! With some of the best and most enlightening dialogue from all 4 season of The Sopranos, The Tao of Bada Bing! offers a truly unique way of reliving the great writing from the show. One of the most original TV tie-in books I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Bada Wow!
Review: Who would have thought there is a logical link between the centuries-old tenets of the Tao Te Ching and the "whack-y" antics of TV's most un-Zenlike family, the Sopranos? The editors of this book, that's who! With some of the best and most enlightening dialogue from all 4 season of The Sopranos, The Tao of Bada Bing! offers a truly unique way of reliving the great writing from the show. One of the most original TV tie-in books I've ever read.
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