It might be a lot deeper than you think. Woody Allen is a fantastic artist and this book explores the artistic side of his movies. The meaning behind what you see on the screen and hear from the characters.

For example, do you think Allen's first film "Take the Money and Run" was just a silly spoof? Yacowar would have us believe differently. Right from the name of the main character, there is meaning. Quoting from the book: "The film pretends to be a documentary about the criminal hero, Virgil Starkwell (Allen). His Christian name evokes Allen's familiar associations with virginity and bookishness; his surname alludes to Charles Starkweather, a famous marauder of the later 1950s." And that's only the beginning, we learn that the movie is full meanings and messages that we may have never thought of.

That's what this book did for me and why I enjoyed it so much. It is very thought provoking. Of course, I kind of feel like Allen may have been answering this kind of examination of his movies in "Stardust Memories" when someone asks him, "What were trying to say in this picture?" Woody's answer, "I was just trying to be funny." You can decide for yourself.

Each chapter is devoted to a piece of work/period in Mel's life. The chapter on Blazing Saddles really hits the spot on Brook's humor. Anyone who questions Brooks' "taste" will be enlightened after reading this!

Right off the bat, I realized that I would never get what I expected with this book -- a psychoanalytic assessment of the characters of TV's "The Sopranos." Rather, what you have is a light weight paperback with overviews of the episodes containing some interesting insight into character development and dialogue, but never really getting into the characters' heads. Perhaps we need Dr. Melfi to invite the other "family" members onto her couch and ask _her_ to write a book!

One of the few redeeming qualities of this book is Yacowar's comparison of the Sopranos series to Francis Ford Coppola's The
Godfather films, but you have to skip to the back of the book for this.

If you were hoping to really see each of the characters on the couch, you will be disappointed. If you are just a huge fan who wants to reflect on one of the greatest television shows ever created in a 1 hour read, then I would commend this book.