Rating: 
Summary: a neat little read on the Soprano family
Review: This book is well written, but it is not much more than an extended newspaper article. Gabbard enjoys himself opening up some interesting lines of thought and giving an overview to the series. Well worth a look.
Rating:
Summary: For psychology and Sopranos junkies
Review: This entertaining book actually enhanced my viewing experience. I watch the Sopranos on videotape -- gulping down three episodes at a time -- and I gone back to Season 1 with the help of this book. Gabbard picks up nuances that eluded me on first viewing. Most interesting is Gabbard's portrayal of the therapist, Jennifer Melfi. Not surprisingly, he is pro-therapy. While acknowledging Jennifer's mistakes -- especially her problems with boundaries -- Gabbard insists that Melfi does, after all, recover from those mistakes. And I'm glad he, too, found some of Jennifer's scenes "improbable," such as her visit to her own therapist with her ex-husband and son. He shed some light on the mystery of Carmela's therapist, the man referred by Dr. Melfi who told Carmela to take the kids and leave. Apparently this therapeutic style is based on input from a real therapist who informally consults with the show. I'm a little puzzled by Gabbard's references to A.J., Anthony Junior, who appears to be in middle school. On the one hand, Gabbard seems a little too forgiving of the psychologist in A.J.'s school, a man who has trouble communicating with laypeople. Telling the parents that A.J. has "five out of nine" symptoms of ADD doesn't help anyone. And I think Gabbard misinterprets a scene where big sister Meadow, from her infinite wisdom as a college student, helps A.J. interpret Frost's famous poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. Gabbard says the scene highlights the difference in their academic levels, but I've met few straight teenaged boys who were moved by poetry. If they understand symbolism, they're not willing to admit it.
Gabbard also picks up the verbal cruelty Tony inflicts on his young son: "If this is my male heir -- you want me to have a vasectomy?" Yet he ignores the father-and-son moments between Tony and A.J., such as the night they were squirting whipped cream directly from jar into mouth. And the family does get together for dinner just about every night -- more than a lot of households do.
Just the fact that I, like many readers, will be stimulated to argue and question Gabbard's book shows its strength: Gabbard's analysis is tough and thought-provoking. There was perhaps too much rehash of the Sopranos episodes (with some errors noted by other reviewers) and too little reflection on why television characters have so much influence. For instance, men have been showing up in therapists' offices in larger numbers since Tony Soprano first met with Dr. Melfi. Do they identify with Tony -- or do they hope to find a gorgeous, brilliant female therapist who wears short skirts as she crosses her legs? And is there a message for female clients here? The women end up with graying, conservative males who'd put most of us to sleep. Next book, maybe.
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