The End of the Sopranos
Categories: Entertainment
I’ve been hooked on The Sopranos since 1999, when it debuted on HBO. April 8—when the final nine episodes of the series begin airing—marks a bittersweet moment for Sopranos fans. On the one hand, we can’t wait to see how the wonderfully tangled plot lines are going to be resolved. On the other hand, we really hate to see this ground-breaking series come to an end.
So in honor of this momentous occasion, I thought I’d dive into our catalog and see what kind of Sopranos-related gems I could unearth. It turns out that there are plenty of titles for those of us who find Tony and his two “families” a source of endless fascination.
The “official” companion to the series, The Sopranos: A Family History, includes complete histories of the families, a season-by-season episode guide, cast profiles and interviews, and an interview with series creator David Chase.
In The Sopranos on the Couch: Analyzing Television’s Greatest Series, Maurice Yacowar presents readers with a detailed analysis of each episode from the first three seasons of the show. An unabashed fan of the series, Yacowar covers every angle—from dialogue and music to camerawork and character development.
Glen Gabbard, a Professor of Psychiatry, offers a “hard, but lighthearted” analysis of the psyches and morality of the series characters in The Psychology of the Sopranos: Love, Death, Desire, and Betrayal in American’s Favorite Gangster Family. In doing so, he also ponders such questions as “Is Tony a psychopath?” “Is he treatable?” “How much of Tony’s behavior can be blamed on his relationship with Livia?" Perfect reading for armchair therapists!
This Thing of Ours: Investigating the Sopranos is a compilation of essays from academics that “investigates both the wide appeal and controversial reception” of the series. Weighty themes considered include: “David Chase, The Sopranos, and Television Creativity,” “Way North of New Jersey: A Canadian Experience of The Sopranos,” “Beyond the Bada Bing! Negotiating Female Narrative Authority in The Sopranos,” and “The Brutality of Meat and the Abruptness of Seafood: Food, Violence, and Family in The Sopranos.”
On a lighter note, if you’re thinking of throwing a dinner party the night of the season finale, you’ll find plenty of recipes for Italian American dishes in The Sopranos Family Cookbook (Artie Bucco) and Entertaining with the Sopranos (Allen Rucker).
Need some background music for your party? I’d recommend putting Volumes 1 and 2 of the official soundtrack into the CD player.
In the meantime, you know where I'll be on Sunday evening--glued to the TV.
