BFI: Deadwood

BFI: Deadwood (2012) by Jason Jacobs is an excellent overview of the late great HBO series. Jacobs as done significant research into the themes and stories of the show and manages to enhance the series in retrospect. He looks closely at the historical antecedents, the series show runner and creator David Milch, and the body of work itself-while drawing on the cultural traditions of in society through references to cultural critics and artists throughout. Jacobs focuses on both the elevated language and the coarse language and what it achieves within the series as well as the stories themselves. I was fascinated to learn that Milch had studied with eh New Critics like Robert Penn Warren, which explains the literary influence on the series. The book is divided into nine chapters: 1. Arriving in Deadwood, 2. History, 3. Al and Seth, 4. The Primordial Camp, 5. Alma and Trixie, 6. God and Gold, 7. Cy and Joanie, 8. Communication and Civilization, 9. Wu, Cocksuckers. It is a an excellent analysis of an entertaining and thought provoking TV series.