Women of Amy Sherman-Palladino, edited by Scott Ryan, is a fascinating look at the women in three series (Gilmore Girls, Bunheads, and Mrs. Maisel) told from different perspectives. I am not familiar with Bunheads except to know of it, I came late to Gilmore Girls but really like Mrs Maisel. So being a diehard fan is not a requirement for enjoying this book.

I have read several books of late that focus on the reception of an artist or work(s) rather than strictly the formation and/or creation. These run the gamut from fairly academic works to ones aimed more at the popular readership. This book has a nice mix while still being aimed at the fans and not the scholars or critics. The essays discuss what it was like watching Gilmore Girls while an adolescent, through some theories about what Mrs Maisel or the Gilmore Girls really meant and accomplished in popular culture. Maybe "in popular culture" isn't correct, it might be more accurate to say what they accomplished in helping people grow into the adults they became.

While I do come at this more from an academic perspective, I am also reading it as a fan. I think for those who were really big fans of any or all of these shows this will be both nostalgic and make you think about what the shows meant. Probably even argue with the viewpoints in a couple of the essays. And those are the best kind, the ones that strike a chord and you want to either dispute or add to the argument in the essay.

These are not academic essays so they are readily accessible to any fan of the shows. That said, they do more and go deeper than just talking about what they meant to each writer. Each essay has substance. I found myself every bit as interested in reading about Bunheads as I was the shows I knew. The ideas, while specifically about the shows, are also about viewership and fandom, and how even the most basic television show can have lasting impact.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via Edelweiss. ( )