Ian JackmanRecensioni

Despite being a huge fan of the show, I couldn't really get behind this book.

I did enjoy most of the cast interviews and their thoughts on the characters they play but the information on production budgets, catering and scheduling just ran so dry. Normally, I'm pretty interested in this stuff - I really enjoy watching the segments that are a part of the season collections but it just didn't really hold my interest.

There is one bright spot which credits at least one of the two stars - the foreword, which was written by Hugh Laurie, was supremely entertaining. If anything, seek it out for that.

Ian Jackman leads you on a delicious tour of regional favorites around the U.S. I truly enjoyed his information on "impaled food" at state fairs. But I should have skipped the review of scrapple. Overall, a great travel guide for foodies, but it would be great if each state had its own food/travel guide to provide ample coverage for the ample waistline you'll get if you sample all the fare included.

An exhaustive and exhausting armchair travelog about food across the U.S. Compare your favorite foods and locales with Jackman's list. It is a delightful trip except for the bit about scrapple. It would be great if each state would be given more space to sing its praises of food items, but it's a great introduction to regional and national food favorites.

Author Jackman sets a huge task for himself. (And hey, what does a Brit know about southern food?) I have only read about a third of this book, but I find it extremely heavy on New York City, Colorado, and the west coast and very light on Texas, Louisiana and the deep south. That may be necessary, but when a book fails to mention the famous Oysters Rockefeller of Antoine's in New Orleans, one takes notice. There's a lot of local stuff not included.

The official companion covers the first two seasons. The bulk of the book is made up of episode descriptions, about 5-6 pages per episode, with screenshots and script snippets. Scattered throughout the book are small panels of comment from cast and crew members, usually about the specific episode, memories, plot origins and technical points. Each of the main cast members also gets a 2-3 page section with a publicity shot and some info on the character and the actors background and route to the past. The tour of the West Wing rooms, foreward by Martin Sheen and other additional information are all very interesting, but much too short. All in all an interesting read that's beautifully presented, but disappointing in that there's not more actual 'companion' information.½