sxk 's review for:

The Secret History of Twin Peaks by Mark Frost

4.0

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My opinion is heavily subjective as I absolutely love Twin Peaks. I love the book and I love how far back it goes in providing the history of the area and the strange entities that surround and inhabit it. I do wish the book provided additional detail to the third series of the show rather than contradicting it at times and reinforcing it at others. The 'sequel' book tries to explain them away but it makes everything feel a little too messy and makes me constantly second guess if any of this history matters or is useful in unlocking some of the mysteries of the show. Doug Milford is a strange choice as the lynchpin for most of the story to follow but Frost makes it work and much of Milford's story are my favorite parts of the book. That said, I do find part of those parts, in the middle where numerous UFO sightings are mentioned, explained, explained away, and/or called into question, overly complicated. There is a particular sequence that despite multiple listens and reads, I cannot fully track who all the characters are and what their timelines and outcomes are, as they are all introduced rather quickly and at the same time, and are entirely superfluous to the denizens of Twin Peaks or the rest of the story at large. In the end, this book is not a codex for unlocking the show or the mysteries of who or what the various beings we've all wondered about from the show are, nor is it entirely fan service that is otherwise pointless and unnecessary. It may feel that way in relation to The Return, but it does explain certain things that were hinted at in the original show, but didn't require a full explanation. Knowing how Nadine lost her eye or how Norma and Hank got together doesn't change the way you'll look at the show, but it's somewhat interesting.