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Dimensions Behind the Twilight Zone: A Backstage Tribute to Television's Groundbreaking Series |
Author: Stewart T. Stanyard
Published: 2007-04-01 |
List price: $21.95
Our price: $14.93
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As of: January 08th, 2009 02:47:03 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Second best book on Twilight Zone!!
First the plus: The interviews with cast and crew are extremely valuable. While the stars may drag on and on about the smallest thing and half of what they say isn't anything informative, the interviews alone are worth the purchase price. The photographs are the best you'll find in any book. Superbly reproduced from the author's private collection and he chose the best.
Now the negative: the history of the series is more of a salute than fact and what little he does feature isn't accurate. His bibliography cites only half a dozen sources and sadly this includes a web-site and Marc Scott Zicree's book which is loaded with errors.
While the author did not do any homework, don't let this book get away from you. Photos and interviews are a must. In short, it is not a perfect companion to consult, but it is a coffee table book.
Only reason I say this is the second best book ever written about Twilight Zone, is because Amazon.com offers the best book. THE TWILIGHT ZONE: UNLOCKING THE DOOR TO A TELEVISION CLASSIC by Martin Grams Jnr. which covers the entire series with 800 plus pages of behind-the-scenes trivia, exclusive interviews with cast and crew and a detail level will exceed anyone's expectation. If you are looking for a book that covers "everything" about the TV series, the Grams book is the one to invest.
Closing comment: Both this is the Grams book floored me. Exceeded my expectations and are worth the purchase price. Only books on Twilight Zone to ever do that and I have every book about Twilight Zone ever written so I know what I am talking about.
Dimensions Behind the Twilight Zone
This is a must read for anyone who grew up watching The Twilight Zone. It's a comprehensive, behind the secens look at the spine-tingling tales that helped shape our way of looking at the world through a different dimension.
BEYOND ANOTHER DIMENSION!
I highly recommend this rarity of a book! My favorite part was the 8 page interview with Bill Mumy who played in three episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE "Long Distance Call," "It's a Good Life" and "In Praise of Pip." - Three of my favorites. I really enjoyed the never before scene pictures of him as well. Also, another perk for me was the pic of Terry Burnham who starred in the episode "Nightmare as a Child" which would have to be one of the scariest episodes as well. I got a kick out of Bill and Terry both being in THE TWILIGHT ZONE since they both starred in one of my favorite childhood movies FOR THE LOVE OF WILLADEAN. All and all, this book is a must to THE TWILIGHT ZONE fan! It's chocked full of everything you could ever want to know about the episodes, behind the scenes and more! I just love this book and found out information on so many of my other favorite episodes. This was one of the best shows ever created for television and this book does it justice. Rod Serling would be proud of it, indeed! It's beyond another dimension!
Great Read and memories
This is a great book of the behind the scenes with many photos and insights from those around Rod Serling during the creation of the series and effects on the world because of it.
 Interviews and More
Any book about The Twilight Zone has big shoes to fill. Marc Scott Zicree's The Twilight Zone Companion is the bible of The Twilight Zone and, moreover, one of the great books about a television show--any television show. Still, give Mr. Stanyard his due, this is a pretty good book.
Wisely, Mr. Stanyard has followed a different path that Zicree. After a few early chapters on history and analysis of the show, the bulk of the book is taken up by interviews. Over 150 pages of interviews with nearly 40 people involved in the show on various levels, from relatives like Carol and Robert Serling, to writers (Matheson, Hamner, etc.), actors, producers and directors. The last pages are a series of "appreciation essays" written by various people who feel their lives have been impacted by the show as well as speculations by people who knew him of what Rod Serling might have achieved had he lived longer.
Mr. Stanyard has also included a number of interesting photos and a few documents like letters and contracts. Most of the photos are backstage photos from the author's own (inherited) collection. This actually poses a bit of problem. Since the photos Stanyard received cover only a fraction of the episodes, there is a lot of repetition from certain episodes and a whole slew of some very great episodes that have no pictures.
In fact, if I were going to nail down one weakness in the book, it's repetition. Besides the pictures, the interviews also end up being somewhat repetitive as many of the people interviewed have very similar words of praise and descriptions of the show. We're all fans of the show but, with rare exception, the interviews are variations on a theme with not as much enlightenment as I was hoping for.
Still, for a fan of The Twilight Zone this is a difficult book to pass by. There are enough pleasures here to make spending time with this volume worthwhile. For newcomers to the series, I would suggest Zicree's book first.
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