The Wire: Truth Be Told

by Rafael Alvarez

Book Overview

Widely regarded as one of the greatest television shows ever made, The Wire , often called a novel-as-television, is a Dickensian masterpiece that weaves together complex stories and complicated... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743497325
• ISBN13: 9780743497329
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Gallery Books
• Length: 282 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.6" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

On the best in TV

I got this book just about the time the second season started. I read most of it, then put it down to do other things. Well "The Wire" is onto its last season so I thought I'd "review" as much of the series as I could, so I read the whole book. First, the series is superior--among the few "honest" television series I've ever noted. It's not feel-good TV like most of that medium are. But it's brutally honest. The major focus of the book is Season 2, in which Frank Sobotka, the head of Baltimore's longshoreman's union, does his best to keep the union afloat. Unfortunately to do so he must rely on some pretty shady characters many of whom do business with the drug dealers on which the series focuses. But there's also a summary of season 1, and even a preview of Season 3. There are also interviews with and comments by those who star in and produce the series. So you can learn that Bunk--played by Wendell Peirce, a Julliard grad--is based on a real Ballmer cop. And Bubbles, one of my favorite characters, played superbly well by Andre Royo, got a "street oscar": after make up, a Ballmer drug user approached "Bubbles," gave him some money and said, "You need this more than I do." Then there's the descriptions of the many actors who are actually from the streets of Baltimore! Some of the series' commentaries are by people I'm not sure who they are (forgive the poor grammar). But the commentaries are great so I don't care who they are. They could be fans, producers, or the man on the street. If what s/he says is well done, who cares? There's even a memorial to Robert Colesberry, one of the producers who dies unexpectedly after heart surgery at the tender age of 57. Well, I don't want to go on and on. I passed the book onto a lawyer friend who doesn't subscribe to HBO but who's become "hooked" on "The Wire" which he rents on DVD. Why only four stars? I have a bias against marketing. While I know it's a necessary element of today's economy, it takes up too much time/money in the culture, resources that could be better producing useful items. This book, while fine, and representing, again, perhaps the greatest series in TV history, still is meant to market the series. While I hope it did an effective job of that, I still dislike marketing. If you're as much of a "Wire" fan as I, get this and learn even more about a fine, fine series.

Not an ordinary book, just like the show!

The book is really a piece of art from the cover to the epilogue. ] A black and white book, with colorful and imagefull pages in the middle and with a detachable cover! Nice one, huh? And there really are some interesting articles about the cast and crew of the show as well as a very long and in-depth prologue from the big man David Simon himself. And yet most pages are episode reviews which are pretty valuable too, it's a must have piece for anyone who calls himself 'THE WIRE' fan. It's just a pity it covers the first two seasons and a bit about the third. I hope someone will mind to create a final book after the show's final fifth season finishes. Just like 'The Sopranos' released their final book after the finale.

One for the fans

This book will be the most rewarding if you're already familiar with The Wire as well as David Simon's earlier work (Homicide; The Corner). I thoroughly enjoyed the interviews (such as the one with a real-life drugs kingpin), background stories (like the tale of the "real Bubbles") and trivia (cameo roles, music picks etc.) They brought a lot more depth to the show and made me love it even more. Episode capsules from the first two seasons take up quite a bit of the book, but there's still plenty to discover for devoted fans. Those unfamiliar with the show should probably start with the DVD sets before picking up this book.

WHEN U WALK THROUGH THE GARDEN, U BETTA WATCH YA BACK

BLUEPRINT 2 BMORE CAREFUL

Gritty Sociology and Political Economy of Urban Crime

Anyone interested in seeing what a group of creative and compassionate writers bound by little network interference can do with a subject matter and a place caught in the throes of globalization, deindustrialization, and mounting despair and hopelessness for a large segment of the population need go no further than this book. More penetrating and revealing than dry scholarly tomes on these subjects, the writers of this book divulge the often painful tensions of producing, writing, and filming "The Wire," arguably the best dramatic series on television. Precisely because it grows out of the knowledge and life experiences of the producers, writers, and actors who have lived in this city, the series has a ring of authenticity and pathos that past commercial crime series for the most part lacked. Building upon the critical acclaim of "Homicide," the producers and writers led by David Simon and the late Bob Colesberry take "The Wire" to a new level of quality, realism, and art. The discerning watcher is rewarded with complex character sketches, twisting and demanding plots, and stunning filming that almost literally keep the viewer glued to the screen. In addition, the series puts a spotlight on both the irrationalities of the contemporary drug war and the humanity and moral complexity of even the most hardened criminal or drug kingpin. Humor, tragedy, callousness, and irony. Love, sex, drugs, and rock'n roll. Compassion, despair, hope, and avarice. All these ingredients combine into an extended annual series that peels open a layer of the city of Baltimore through stories that tell us much of the hellish possibilities and tender and healing moments of urban America slouching into the first decade of the new Millennium. This is a book with chapters by many of the series' principal contributors. It is a work that deepens one's appreciation for the series' creativity and genius, as well as its profound tragic sense of life and unrelieved tensions. Covering the first two seasons of the program, the book enhances the true fan's knowledge of the series with delightful vignettes, juicy tidbits and nuggets, and honest portraits of the characters who populate the series and the actors who inhabit those characters. Once started, the avid viewer will not be able to put it down. Guaranteed!