Product Description

THE WIRE has been widely hailed as the greatest television series of all time. It portrays the war of attrition between the city's hardened police force, and its drug dealers, and the blurring of good and evil, justice and injustice, right and wrong. Over its five series it has built up a detailed, rich and layered portrait of Baltimore: from its corner boys touting dope and its dock workers facing extinction, through the strained education system and tainted halls of power, to the crumbling media establishment. Rafael Alvarez - a reporter, essayist and staff writer for the show - brings the reader inside this world, detailing many of the real-life incidents and personalities that have inspired the show's storylines and characters. Packed with photographs and featuring an introduction by series creator and executive producer David Simon, as well as essays by acclaimed authors George Pelecanos, Nick Hornby, Laura Lipmann, and William F. Zorzi, it covers all five series in glorious detail.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #399 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 448 pages

About the Author
Rafael Alvarez is a novelist based in his native Baltimore. He learned to write on the city desk of the BALTIMORE SUN. He is the author of ORLO AND LEINI MEET THE INVISIBLE MAN and occasionally works as a laborer on ships crewed by the Seafarers International Union. He has been a writer on all of THE WIRE's five seasons.

Customer Reviews

Old edition - covers only series 1-3. NEW EDITION OUT SOON covering all 5.
Hello, my name is Liam, and I'm a Wire-o-holic.

I first noticed the series on Amazon in the DVD sectionThe Wire: Complete HBO Season 1-5. Attracted by the great reviews and the pedigree of the writers and producer, I ordered the first installment. Two months later and I've got through all but the fifth and final series, which is on pre-order.

The reason I tell you this is to establish where my perspective is on this book; I loved the show, the dialogue, the 'plot arc' (or whatever the new word for storylines is) - it's dazzlingly good.

The first thing that you should know if you're thinking of buying this book is that it was written as they were doing the third series, so it covers less than half the output they've completed now.

When I opened this book, my immediate reaction was one of foreboding - the layout was quite large print with lots of pictures and margin lines in evidence; it's got that look of a magazine style to it (it's like Harpercollins do Dorling Kindersley) - signs of dumbing down or padding out, perhaps. This impression dissipated slightly, but nevertheless stayed with me as I read the book, as perhaps two-thirds of it is written in the form of episode synopses. These were fairly entertaining to recap on, but it felt like I was reading a media studies textbook (as I imagine one to be, anyway) at times.

But the good stuff! The remaining third of the book consists of essays by the writers of the scripts and others, and the amount that they CARE about this project shines through; there's a lot of social commentary on Baltimore, the setting for The Wire and hometown to a seeming majority of those involved in the series, and it's these testimonies that are worth getting this book for.

These's also interviews with some of the actors (another 'magazine - type' thing to do) which were uneven in quality and insight, as well as cast lists at the back, but I'm not obsessive enough about the show to care about that sort of detail.

So, because the book only covers two series and previews the third, and because there's too much synopsis and not enough personal opinion, I can only give it three stars.

I'm still glad I have it at the used price though, as it looks good on the shelf next to the DVDs of the show. Could this be the beginning of OCD?

EDIT 08/08/09: There's a new book out that covers the whole 5 series - see it here. It's bound to be a better choice if you were considering this old edition, especially at the pre-order price.

Excellent book for Wire addicts
I hesitated a bit before buying this as it seemed from reading some reviews it was just a recap of each episode plus a bit extra. But I'm really glad I bought it. The prologue by David Simon is almost worth the price in itself, he's an eloquent, articulate and gifted writer whose ability to summarise the malaise of innercities - his reason for creating the Wire - is inspiring to read. I'm only a few chapters in, but already it's taken me back to my happy hours watching the Wire unfold and giving me interesting insights into how it all came about and what reality it was showing. If, like me, you are a Wire addict, this will help your craving when you have watched all five series and no TV programme will be the same again.

BRILLIANT
As a Wire addict I found this book awe inspiring.Really insightful essays on the main themes of the series,synopsis of all the episodes,great interviews with most people involved and some nice stills. Best book on a TV series,ever.