The Psychology of The Sopranos: Love, Death, Desire and Betrayal in America's Favorite Gangster Family by Glen O. Gabbard

The Psychology of The Sopranos: Love, Death, Desire and Betrayal in America's Favorite Gangster Family Reviews

• 
  Julie

  Admittedly, this book (which, by the way, has the most unwieldy title on the PLANET) caters to a fairly small niche market. Fortunately for me, I fall right into it! This book is for YOU, if (1) you LOVED The Sopranos television series, and have a fairly intricate knowledge of its characters and plotlines (as the writer of this book ASSUMES that you do, when making his analyses); (2) you have an interest in, and some basic knowledge of, college-level psychology; and (3) you are the type of person who will watch a show on television for an hour, and then spend ANOTHER hour chatting on the phone with your friend about the intricacies of what you just saw . . .
  
  Since I was absolutely OBSESSED with this show, back when it aired, and continue to miss it terribly, this book was like a nostalgic trip down memory lane for me. In analyzing the various psychological aspects of Tony's personality, as well as those of Dr. Melfi, Carmela, and Tony's children, A.J. and Meadow, Gabbard more or less revisits EVERYTHING that happened during the show's first four seasons, in just 182 pages. Reading this, I was surprised by how much I remembered from the early episodes of the show. And more surprised by how much I forgot . . .
  
  Maddeningly, since this book came out in 2002, later episodes were not discussed. This is not AT ALL Gabbard's fault, I know. But it bugged me TERRIBLY, because, having thoroughly absorbed the author's keen insights into the first half of the series, I AM SIMPLY DYING to know Gabbard's expert opinion of such later series events as: Tony's mercy killing of his cousin, to prevent him from being hit by an opposing mob family, those bizarre couple of episodes where Tony was in a coma, Vito being outed as a homosexual and subsequently wacked, Tony's murder of Christopher in the final season, and OF COURSE, that ingenious, but completely frustrating, fade-to-black, series finale.
  
  And yet, frustrating as the aforementioned absence was, it did nothing to lessen my enjoyment of this book. Gabbard's Psychology of the Sopranos takes the notion of "pop psychology" (or, perhaps, more accurately, "pop culture psychology") to a whole new level. If you are part of its niche market, it is a MUST READ!
• 
  Sally

  My family and I are currently engaged in a "Sopranos" marathon - watching several episodes every evening...so it wasn't too far-fetched for me to pick up this book I gave Freddy for Christmas. What did surprise me, however, was how much I enjoyed it! It read easily and most engaging - not too terribly steeped in psycho-jargon and very engaging. I particularly recommend it to anyone who intimately knows the Soprano story.
• 
  Carly Elizabeth

  Great book for anyone who has the sopranos finale blues and needs that extra fix... interesting stuff and very entertaining. I just wish he had covered the second half of the series 😭
• 
  Jeremy Johnston

  Talked about this book a lot in therapy. This and Freud and Beyond are now my two therapy books.
• 
  Oliver

  Quite an interesting premise here. A practicing psychoanalyst writes a book about the fictitious therapy that takes place between Tony Soprano and his therapist in the TV show, and to a lesser extent reflects on portrayals of therapy in TV and film. I picked this up 2nd hand in a charity store, and since I was wading for the umpteenth time through a Sopranos box-set I thought I'd give it a go. Two precursors are worth mentioning. The first is that you'll need to know the TV show really well to get much out of this (I do). The second is that this book came out at the end of the third season of the Sopranos (Gabbard originally wrote a column in Slate Magazine) - that is to say, at the half way point. Consequently a few of Gabbard's judgments seem slightly comical with the benefit of hindsight. Moreover because he focuses so much on the therapist/patient relationship he sometimes rather ignores the fact the relationship exists as a narrative tool, and occasionally as a moral compass; as is ultimately seen in season six with the ending of the therapy. That said, if like me you haven't read much psychology it's quite an interesting introduction to Freud and concepts like transference and splitting. Sopranos creator David Chase has said that The Sopranos is about people who lie to themselves on a daily basis and the mess it creates, so there is ample material for this and many other books.
• 
  Kamal Latif

  I loved this book. Really great way to explore and present complex psychological ideas in a highly accessible way for Non-Psychologists. Using popular TV Drama characters we lived with for over 6 seasons of the show (although the book was written after series 3) the book explores themes such as the root of Tony and his mobster associates' violence, moral complexity and relationships with their mothers and women in general. Interesting to read about how Psychotherapy is portrayed in film and TV too. Highly recommended.
• 
  Heidi

  Just started watching the Sopranos (I know, I'm a little slow) and read this to fill the gap between getting the next episodes from the library. It looks at how therapy is portrayed and used in the show and the psychological issues of the characters. If you're not addicted to the show, this probably won't be of much, if any, interest, but it was interesting as a light quick read.
• 
  Rebeccah

  This book is a great read for anyone interested in The Sopranos and psychology, but who doesn't have a ton of background in the area of psychology. Honestly, I was hoping it would be a little bit more 'academic', since I'm using it to write a paper in one of my graduate classes, but overall it has some great insights. A pretty quick and easy read, despite it's heavy-sounding title.
• 
  Arvydas Sidorenko

  I guess it is as good as a book about TV serial on mafia can be. It literally goes through a list of the most prominent scenes and the author explains how he perceived them. Nothing scientific, but rather an easy read.
• 
  Shannon

  Witty, clever, accessible. Aid in understanding psychoanalytic theory.
  
  Good insight on script writing and the crafting of a television drama.
• 
  Carl

  Very insightful!!!!
• 
  Andrew

  interesting stuff but nothing a fan wouldn't have picked up watching the show
• 
  Gato Negro

  Didn't love this, though based on the topic, I thought I would.
• 
  Nicole C.

  Just like it says. Quick, intriguing read.