Ratings11
Average rating3.7
I enjoyed this book - but it would be difficult to write a book about Seinfeld that wasn't enjoyable. Difficult, but not impossible.
It's an entertaining read that collects interviews from many sources and adds in some (but not a lot, I don't think) original content to produce a highly readable history of the series.
The opening chapters are the best in which the genesis of the series is laid out, lots of which I didn't know (the stars' various pasts, for example), and subsequent chapters give us details of what it was like to write on the show.
But as the book progresses it loses focus and each chapter tends to wander off the point a bit.
It's not particularly insightful - for example the ‘curse of Seinfeld' chapter relies too heavily on snippets from interviews when this would have been a great opportunity to interview people about why some of the actors' subsequent efforts didn't work out, or more about Michael Richards' racist outburst.
There are some inaccuracies in the book (Seinfeld doesn't own all the cars in Comedians With Cars Getting Coffee, as anyone who watches it would know) and strange omissions - nothing on Seinfeld's short-lived series The Marriage Ref. A few things get repeated too - Terry Hatcher and Courtney Cox were in the show, we get told twice. Also, a few things get repeated too - Terry Hatcher and Courtney Cox were in the show, we get told twice...
The concept of “Seinfeldia' doesn't really hold up to scrutiny and apart from the first and last chapters it gets called up in ways that suggests it's a thesis without much solidity.
So, short on analysis but a good light history of the show. I'm being overly critical only because it's being pitched as something more than it is, but it is enjoyable and recommended to fans and students of TV/comedy history.