Subject: New TP book? NOT
From: jgp@raid.Rational.COM (Jim Pellmann)
Date: 1992-09-16, 11:42
Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks,rec.arts.tv
Someone mentioned that they saw a listing for a book called "Twin Peaks
Revisited" in the list of Forthcoming Books. I checked into this. It was
supposed to be written by Mark Altman and put out by Pioneer Books. This
is the same outfit that put out the "Behind The Scenes" book last year.
I called Pioneer and they said the book was canceled due to the fact that
"the movie bombed". So there is not going to be a "TP Revisited" book.
For those who missed out on "Behind The Scenes" I'll include my review
from when it came out in February, 1991. Pioneer says it is out of print,
yet they can fill orders from individuals (huh?). Anyway, you can try
ordering it from them, if you're interested.
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Twin Peaks: Behind The Scenes
An Unofficial Visitors Guide to Twin Peaks
by Mark A. Altman
trade paperback, 152 pages
$14.95
ISBN # 1-55698-284-4
published By Pioneer Books
5715 N. Balsam Road
Las Vegas, NV 89130
(702) 658-2090
This book was put out in a hurry to capitalize on the dwindling Peaks mania,
and it shows. A desktop publisher could produce a book with far better
production values than this one.
There is literally not a single page that isn't filled with typos, bizarre
hyphenation, formatting errors, duplicate paragraphs, conflicting information,
multiple spellings of characters' and actors' names, or (worst of all)
horrible grammar.
(In its partial defense, the book covers plot events up through Leland's
death, so they got the book out to stores in less than two months.)
This is put out by a company that specializes in books for die-hard fans. The
back pages contain ads (Couch Potato Book Catalog) for titles such as "The Dark
Shadows Tribute Book," "Monsterland Fear Book," "The Trek Crew Book," "The
Doctor Who Encyclopedia," and "The Lost in Space Technical Manual."
According to his biography, Altman is a "prominent film and television
journalist" who writes for such magazines as Starlog and Cinefantastique,
and wrote the scripts for the films "Moving Targets" and "Moving Targets II."
It also notes: "As a 1988 graduate of Brandeis University, the author never
knew or met Diane Shapiro." Nor did he take any English composition classes,
apparently.
The copyright page also tells us that the book is not licensed by Lynch/Frost
Productions and it is "a scholarly work intended to explore an American
cultural phenomenon and use "Twin Peaks" as a case study in the exploration of
a cult television show." Yeah, right.
There are a fair number of black and white production still photos (most of
which we've seen in other magazine or newspaper articles) and a number of Peaks
related magazine covers.
What it lacks in polish, it definitely makes up for in enthusiasm and new
information. Altman has spent time talking to the production team and provides
lots of background on the producers and writers as well as nearly all of the
directors. There is some insight into the locations used for various scenes
and some set details that haven't been noticed before. And he apparently had
an extensive interview with Miguel Ferrer, whom he quotes often.
Best of all, there are lots of plot, casting, and production tidbits that I
haven't seen discussed anywhere, even on the net. I'll list some of those
later. In short, this is a "must have" for the true Peaks Freak.
Contents:
- Introduction - "I'd Rather Be Here Than Philadelphia"
- Chapter 1 - The Genesis of Twin Peaks - "Wrapped in Plastic"
discussion of Lynch's previous work and how the pilot came about
- Chapter 2 - First Season - "She's Full of Secrets"
introduces the production team, themes explored, Peaks mania
- Chapter 3 - Second Season - "The Owls Are Not What They Seem"
similar coverage for second season (up through Leland's death)
- Chapter 4 - The Cast - "I Hate Cherry Pie . . . Really"
brief biographies of the major cast members
- Chapter 5 - The Creative Team - "Look, It's Trying To Think"
more on Lynch, Frost, Harley Peyton (producer/writer), and Robert Engels
(executive script consultant)
- Chapter 6 - The Merchandising - "Dear Diary"
the diary, audio tape, and future merchandising plans
- Chapter 7 - After Laura - "The Woods Hold Many Spirits"
recurring themes and conventions, plot developments, new characters
- Chapter 8 - The Ten Best Theories About Who Killed Laura Palmer
nothing that hadn't been discussed on the net
- Episode Guide - plot summaries for the pilot and episodes 1 through
16 (Leland's death)
- Appendix A - A Twin Peaks Freaks Filmography
a short list of films with Peaks actors, writers, directors, and themes
- Appendix B - Glossary
a fairly comprehensive list of characters and places, with many 'one scene'
minor characters
New revelations from the book:
- confirms that Mark Frost purposely delayed revelation of Laura's killer
as a means to force ABC to renew for a second season
- Lynch first wanted to set the show in North Dakota, but Frost convinced him
it was "a flat barren place that's very cold"
- the only change ABC has imposed was changing the town's population from
Frost's original 5,201 to 51,201
- the first choice for Sheriff Truman was David Strathairn (Moss on "Molly
Dodd", later appeared as a quirky sheriff on Wiseguy)
- Frost confirmed that the show's title refers to "a male joke about women's
breasts," whose in particular he did not say
- Ben & Jerry's sent ice cream to them, and Lynch and Frost suggested a new
flavor containing donut pieces, the sale of which would benefit the fight
to save the spotted owl
- Gordon Cole is the name of a character in the movie "Sunset Boulevard"
- William S. Burroughs expressed interest in playing a part and they
wanted to get him to play the mayor's brother, but it didn't work out
- Frost directed all the "Invitation to Love" segments; they were dropped
due to episode running time constraints; at one point they considered
having the lead actors from the soap vacation in Twin Peaks
- Madchen Amick originally auditioned for the part of Donna; Shelly was
only to be a minor character in the pilot, but her part was expanded
- Dangling subplots were not forgotten, according to Peyton: Ronette's
coma only lasted a week and Mike Nelson only disappeared for a few days
in Twin Peaks time
- Director Todd Holland reveals that it was the oriental man (Jonathan)
who was watching Josie and Truman make love during the thunderstorm
- James' alcoholic mom became the subject of a running joke on the set;
they actually filmed a scene with her, but had to keep cutting it out
due to time constraints
- Likewise, a scene filmed for episode 3 was cut: Cooper visited Laura's
grave and an old caretaker explained "that if you put your ear to the
ground, you can hear the dead 'singing' as the wood of the casket expands
beneath the sod"
- future merchandising is to include a computer game, Cooper's autobiography
(consisting of every tape recording he's made since the age of 17), and
a guidebook to Twin Peaks, describing walking tours and "where to get
a really good donut"
- of Bob's ability to possess a human soul, Frost says:
"It's kind of like the relationship between an artist and an angel. He is a
creature from somewhere else and maybe he's only from within Leland. We
don't exactly say where he was belched up from. He is somebody who kind of
went along for the ride.
"When Leland talks about knowing Bob as a child and says this was someone who
invited me to play and I invited him in, there's a certain classic type of
vampire myth that comes into play when a soul that invites something into it
to take part in its life cannot then refuse it anything. That's a myth that
goes way back before pre-Christian times and that's one possible explanation
. . . the other is that Leland is just completely whacked out of his mind.
"We want you to decide what you think is right because I don't know for sure
that things like that exist and I don't know that they don't."
- a note in the summary for the first season finale says: "The assailant
who attacks Dr. Jacoby was never revealed on the show, but it was indeed
Leland possessed by Bob, according to Mark Frost. He sees Maddy leaving
the house and follows her. Fearing that Jacoby is going to attack her,
he strikes the doctor and is forced to leave when James and Donna arrive."
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If you can't find this in your local bookstore, you can order it from the above
address. Send check or money order, and add $3.25 for postage ($7.00 if you
want rush service).
--
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"I lived in my head mostly." | Jim Pellmann (jgp@rational.com)
"That's not a bad neighborhood." | RATIONAL
"There were some pretty strange neighbors." | Santa Clara, California
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