Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

This book, as with the film, the series and several other books relating to Twin Peaks is extraordinarily entertaining and mind-blowing. David Lynch is a master of the surreal and Mark Frost is an amazingly gifted writer who deftly manages to expertly tie the ensuing genius/madness together in a uniquely compelling manner. Together they have created the mind-blowing, reality bending world of Twin Peaks. Maura McHugh continues this tradition as she astutely crafts a mesmerizing literary excusing deep into the heart of this world (or perhaps I should say 'these worlds'), which comprise the Twin Peaks experience. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this highly creative interpretation of my all time favorite television/film combination. I highly recommend the book to anyone who has love/appreciation for the Twin Peaks phenomenon.

I've seen Fire Walk with Me, most people that would read this book probably have too. However, it focuses on recapping the film scene by scene without much insight or point. Very let down.Pretty cover and well designed book.

In her first contribution to PS Publishing's Midnight Movie Monographs series, Maura McHugh provides an insightful reading of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, David Lynch's 1992 prequel to the TV series.While the original TV series was a mystery with surreal and comic elements, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is an unalloyed tragedy. A difficult and emotionally devastating film, TP: FWWM was critically savaged upon its release. The Blu-ray release, augmented by a feature-length collection of deleted scenes, did much to rehabilitate the film’s reputation.In a clear, expressive style, free of academic jargon, the author provides a close, scene-by-scene reading of the film. Ms. McHugh stays close to the story itself, steering clear of film school analysis of camerawork or editing. I found the approach of integrating analysis into the plot synopsis helpful, as the film’s discontinuities can make it difficult to recall certain important plot points. Enough biographical information is included to contextualize the work in David Lynch's oeuvre, but the film’s production is not discussed. This book was written prior to 2017's Twin Peaks: The Return, so the connections between TP: FWWM and the mysterious climax of third season are not explored here.Unlike many of the online commentators who surfaced in the wake of Twin Peaks: The Return, Ms. McHugh never tries to bend the film to fit her reading. She wisely doesn't fixate on parsing continuity issues or narrative contradictions (such as the seemingly mercurial nature of the Owl Cave ring), focusing instead on the heart of the story, the trauma inflicted on Laura Palmer by her father's sexual abuse.This monograph is presented as an attractively designed, 6” x 8.5,” 120 page limited-edition hardcover, illustrated with carefully-selected frames from the film. Highly recommended.

This nearly-100-page analysis of Fire Walk With Me is, ultimately, hugely disappointing. Published by PS Publishing, as part of their Midnight Movie Monograph series, this book is plagued with too many editing errors and too much plot regurgitation to be taken seriously as an important work of film criticism.It's a shame, too, because Fire Walk With Me deserves better. There are a few bits of insightful commentary here, but McHugh spends most of her time simply telling what is happening in the film; the book reads more like a plot synopsis, or an extended episode re-cap than it does a deep-dive analysis.There is a great book about Fire Walk With Me out there, waiting to be written, but unfortunately this is not it. I don't mean to be so critical of this work, it's just that I was expecting so much more. Probably because I admire Fire Walk With Me so damn much. It's my favorite thing from Lynch. I saw it when it was first in the theaters, and left the showing feeling as though I had just witnessed something utterly profound. I was absolutely dismayed to learn that the film was largely hated by fans of the show, and by the critics at the time.It was at this moment, in the early '90s, that I realized something about Lynch and Twin Peaks. There are Lynch fans, and there are Twin Peaks fans, and the overlap of those two is not 100%. I approached Twin Peaks as a fan of Lynch, and found most of the original series to be underwhelming to say the least. For me, coming from the hardcore Lynch camp, Fire Walk With Me was like a breath of fresh air.At least the film is getting this kind of treatment now, and I hope there is more of it to come in the future.

This book, although filled with some decent & good theories scattered throughout, I noticed several grammatical errors, and the “Fire Walk With Me” mantra on the inside of the cover was incorrect: instead of saying “One CHANTS out between two worlds,” it was written this way: “One CHANCE out between two worlds“. Already with a mistake on the inside of the jacket, I was disappointed and wary. However, despite a bit of misinformation there are some interesting theories & it delves into some interesting facts about the film and the show, despite containing a number of grammatical errors. Book editors who earned C’s in English while in school seem to be recommended to writers these days. I’m about a quarter into the book & I already found too many grammatical errors. Sad. I wasn’t even aware how important this book is until I saw the page that said I have the 66th copy of the limited first edition, so it’ll be worth money. Whether or not I keep it to sell depends upon my finishing the book & my opinion on it—if it turns out better than it started, I’ll keep it, but if it’s just a hyped up book that tells its readers too many things we already know, it will remain on my bookshelf until it’s worth a pretty penny & then sell it.