Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good, though some of the essays are a stretch
Review: I really enjoyed reading essays that brought the perspective of philosophy to bear on my favorite TV show. Not all the essays were good (one near the end with a lot of Freud was pretty awful), but many were, and when I rewatch episodes now I get completely different perspectives on things. I will add that I find other Buffy anthologies to be more helpful than this one.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good, though some of the essays are a stretch
Review: I really enjoyed reading essays that brought the perspective of philosophy to bear on my favorite TV show. Not all the essays were good (one near the end with a lot of Freud was pretty awful), but many were, and when I rewatch episodes now I get completely different perspectives on things. I will add that I find other Buffy anthologies to be more helpful than this one.
Rating:
Summary: Good collection of essays on a great show
Review: I thought this was a fun collection of essays. I majored in philosophy as an undergraduate, so it was fun to read about a lot of people I read in college in the context of Buffy.I will say the title is a little misleding. I took an entire course on Existentialism, and was anxious to see what they said about Buffy and Kierkegaard, since the title refers to Kierkegaard's FEAR AND TREMBLING. I assumed someone might talk about Angel and Kierkegaard's ethical stage, since at one point he writes that the ethical can sorrow over sin, but cannot resolve it, which sounds to me a lot like Angel. Still, a provocative collection.
Rating:
Summary: Good collection of essays on a great show
Review: I thought this was a fun collection of essays. I majored in philosophy as an undergraduate, so it was fun to read about a lot of people I read in college in the context of Buffy. I will say the title is a little misleding. I took an entire course on Existentialism, and was anxious to see what they said about Buffy and Kierkegaard, since the title refers to Kierkegaard's FEAR AND TREMBLING. I assumed someone might talk about Angel and Kierkegaard's ethical stage, since at one point he writes that the ethical can sorrow over sin, but cannot resolve it, which sounds to me a lot like Angel. Still, a provocative collection.
Rating:
Summary: Teachers should recommend this book for class
Review: I took Philosphy in my first semmester of college, and I didn't do to well. After I started reading this book, I began to understand Plato, Kant, and other philospohers better. If my teacher had recommended this book I may have gotten higher than a C.
This book takes themes from the show: Faith's downfall, feminisim, education, violence, etc. and explains the themes through philosphy. I love BTVS and this book gave me a different way to watch the show. I definately recommend this book to anyone who is currently taking philosphy or will take a class or has. It helps the reader get through a subject that may not be very clear on its own.
Rating:
Summary: Teachers should recommend this book for class
Review: I took Philosphy in my first semmester of college, and I didn't do to well. After I started reading this book, I began to understand Plato, Kant, and other philospohers better. If my teacher had recommended this book I may have gotten higher than a C.
This book takes themes from the show: Faith's downfall, feminisim, education, violence, etc. and explains the themes through philosphy. I love BTVS and this book gave me a different way to watch the show. I definately recommend this book to anyone who is currently taking philosphy or will take a class or has. It helps the reader get through a subject that may not be very clear on its own.
Rating: 
Summary: fun philosophy?!
Review: If you've seen every season of both the series, its likely you'll be dead impressed that you get everything they refer to in this book, then you'll laugh at the long words they use to explain whats just a tv show! But, apart from learning loads about actual age-old philosophy and stuff, its really interesting to have it applied to Buffy and see how much it makes sense. I've always loved the show for how it works on different levels, and its cool to see that its not just me thinking this - real live professors agree! More importantly, it makes you realise what geniuses Joss & co. are for giving us so much to think about. Loved it!
Rating:
Summary: A solid book of Buffy essays....
Review: One of the great strengths about this book is that the essays contained in it are fairly short. This way, you can read them slowly, and not feel overwhelmed by the high academia of some of the themes. Most essays are fairly accessable to non-philosphy folk. There are some really great essays in this book, such as those in the sections about feminist theory. The Editor, James South, teaches a Buffy studies class at Marquette University, and his essay on Willow is also very strong. Mostly, this anthology works in comparing Buffy to classical mythology/philospohy and modern theories of redemption, feminism, and popular culture. But there are also some real duds, such as the one by James Lawler who tries very hard to fit a square peg into a round hole by comparing Buffy to Kant. The final essay by Levine and Schnieder presents a view that Buffy is totally unoriginal in premise, writing, acting, and execution, and is really just a sucky show that people have venerated because they're dumb. I'm not just saying that all the essays which critique the flaws of BTVS are bad, for example, one basically proposes that Buffy creates a facist state, and it is very well written even though I don't agree with the premise. But insulting your readers is never a good way to start any arguement. And certain essays suffer because this book was compiled before season 7 had aired, and their arguements no longer work. I would reccomend this book to Buffy fans with some kind of humanities academia under their belt. I don't think one could get through this book unless they were used to reading academic papers. The language can be difficult, and sometimes the philosophy cumbersome. It is very rewarding and insightful, but certainly not light reading.
Rating:
Summary: A solid book of Buffy essays....
Review: One of the great strengths about this book is that the essays contained in it are fairly short. This way, you can read them slowly, and not feel overwhelmed by the high academia of some of the themes. Most essays are fairly accessable to non-philosphy folk. There are some really great essays in this book, such as those in the sections about feminist theory. The Editor, James South, teaches a Buffy studies class at Marquette University, and his essay on Willow is also very strong. Mostly, this anthology works in comparing Buffy to classical mythology/philospohy and modern theories of redemption, feminism, and popular culture. But there are also some real duds, such as the one by James Lawler who tries very hard to fit a square peg into a round hole by comparing Buffy to Kant. The final essay by Levine and Schnieder presents a view that Buffy is totally unoriginal in premise, writing, acting, and execution, and is really just a sucky show that people have venerated because they're dumb. I'm not just saying that all the essays which critique the flaws of BTVS are bad, for example, one basically proposes that Buffy creates a facist state, and it is very well written even though I don't agree with the premise. But insulting your readers is never a good way to start any arguement. And certain essays suffer because this book was compiled before season 7 had aired, and their arguements no longer work. I would reccomend this book to Buffy fans with some kind of humanities academia under their belt. I don't think one could get through this book unless they were used to reading academic papers. The language can be difficult, and sometimes the philosophy cumbersome. It is very rewarding and insightful, but certainly not light reading.
Rating:
Summary: So much fun!!
Review: This book is amazing and covers a wide range of topics. It's highly academic and well-respected in the academic community. It was a good lead in as far as asking my professors if I could incorporate Buffy into my papers. Hehe. I found that it also made some things much clearer, by putting it in the light of my favorite television show. I particularly liked the comparison of Faith to Nietzsche and the incorporation of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason and relating that to "Out of Mind, Out of Sight." It brought Kant's view into a new perspective, rather than trying to understand specifically with Kant's text and just accepting what he said as his view, it made his view make sense. I really do recommend it for any fan of Buffy in general(although it may seem tough at first, it was for me) or a philosophy fan. (I also found that it heavily related to my Conscience and Literature class)
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