Widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time, The Sopranos is also considered one of the most significant achievements in contemporary American culture. IThe series spearheaded the launch of a new wave of quality programming that has transformed the way people watch, experience, and talk about television. By chronicling the life and crimes of a New Jersey mobster, his family, and his cronies, The Sopranos examines deep themes at the heart of American life, particularly the country’s seedy underbelly. In Tony Soprano’s America: Gangsters, Guns, and Money, M. Keith Booker and Isra Daraiseh explore the central role of the series in American cultural history. While examining the elements that account for the show’s popularity and critical acclaim, the authors also contend that The Sopranos revolutionized the way audiences viewed television in general and cable programming as well. This book demonstrates how a show focused on an ethnic antihero somehow reflected common themes of contemporary American life, including ethnicity, class, capitalism, therapy, and family dynamics. Providing a sophisticated yet accessible account of the groundbreaking series—a show that rivals film and literature for its beauty and stunning characterization of modern life—this book engages the reader with ideas central to the American experience. Tony Soprano’s America brings to life this profound television program in ways that will entertain, engage, and perhaps even challenge longtime viewers and critics.

With his life of crime and heart of gold, Tony Soprano compels us to examine our moral code - and to ponder the contradictions of the American Dream

Widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time, The Sopranos is also considered one of the most significant achievements in contemporary American culture. IThe series spearheaded the launch of a new wave of quality programming that has transformed the way people watch, experience, and talk about television. By chronicling the life and crimes of a New Jersey mobster, his family, and his cronies, The Sopranos examines deep themes at the heart of American life, particularly the country’s seedy underbelly. In Tony Soprano’s America: Gangsters, Guns, and Money, M. Keith Booker and Isra Daraiseh explore the central role of the series in American cultural history. While examining the elements that account for the show’s popularity and critical acclaim, the authors also contend that The Sopranos revolutionized the way audiences viewed television in general and cable programming as well. This book demonstrates how a show focused on an ethnic antihero somehow reflected common themes of contemporary American life, including ethnicity, class, capitalism, therapy, and family dynamics. Providing a sophisticated yet accessible account of the groundbreaking series—a show that rivals film and literature for its beauty and stunning characterization of modern life—this book engages the reader with ideas central to the American experience. Tony Soprano’s America brings to life this profound television program in ways that will entertain, engage, and perhaps even challenge longtime viewers and critics.

Made in America and the Hidden Stories of The Sopranos shows how most viewers and commentators have misunderstood the mysterious and memorable finale of television's greatest drama. Made in America is shown to be one of a number of hidden stories secreted within the broader narrative of The Sopranos, ones which are not explicitly acknowledged and require the viewer to pay attention to subtle clues offered. Made in America is a dream of the central character Tony Soprano, the boss of the New Jersey Mafia, the final one of a series presented in the show. Up until now it is extremely surprising that no published commentator has asked the following question: could this perplexing final episode of a series which has placed great emphasis on the depiction and analysis of dreams be yet another? This book, the first full-length analysis of the finale, corrects this significant oversight. The argument reveals that there are repeated subtle hints within Made in America that it is a dream and shows how characters both major and minor behave in ways that are inconsistent with their portrayal in previous episodes. In addition, common features of dreams, such as impossible and absurd events and time flowing in a non-linear manner are highlighted as is the fear of death that has plagued Tony since the beginning of the show. These elements are drawn together in a detailed analysis of the famous final scene in the diner Holsten's. To provide further evidence that Made in America is the final dream of Tony hidden stories from elsewhere in the show are examined, including a phantom therapy session with Jennifer Melfi, the real culprit behind the killing of the horse Pie-O-My and a character who is less substantial than he appears in the recent prequel film The Many Saints of Newark. Dreams that are presented previously, of Tony and other characters such as Christopher Moltisanti, are revealed to share the same characteristics. Finally, the influence of the film Mulholland Drive by David Lynch, one of the most successful depictions of the contents of a sleeping mind, is explained. Taking seriously comments made by David Chase, the creator of The Sopranos, in an interview after the initial broadcast in 2007 this book shows that there is in truth nothing perplexing or unusual about Made in America. It uses storytelling techniques that have been common in the show since the beginning, only some of which have been noted by previous commentators. Chase turns out to be one of the many artists throughout history who have inserted extra details surreptitiously into their work. Made in America and the Hidden Stories of The Sopranos shows that there is even more to this most complex of dramas than you ever realised. The author is a teacher and philosopher.

Mario Puzo's The Godfather is an American pop phenomenon whose driving force is reflected not only in book sales and cable television movie marathons but also in such related works as the hit television series The Sopranos. In The Godfather and American Culture, Chris Messenger offers an important and comprehensive study of this classic work of popular fiction and its hold on the American imagination. As Messenger shows, the Corleones have indeed become "our gang," and we see our family business in America reflected in them. Examining The Godfather and its many incarnations within a variety of texts and contexts, Messenger also addresses Puzo's inconsistent affiliation with his Italian heritage, his denial of the multiethnic literary subject, and his decades-long struggle for respect as a writer in contemporary America. The study ultimately offers a way of looking at the much-maligned genre of popular or bestselling fiction itself. By placing both the novel and films within a number of revealing critical situations, Messenger addresses the continuing problem of how we talk about elite and popular fiction in America—and what we mean when we take sides.

With his life of crime and heart of gold, Tony Soprano compels us to examine our moral code - and to ponder the contradictions of the American Dream