A review by daumari
The Secret History of Twin Peaks by Mark Frost

4.0

Note: I've seen the series, but haven't watched Fire Walk With Me yet, nor have I read any other Twin Peaks related book, so I can't really comment on canon inconsistencies (though it wouldn't surprise me if they were intentionally done for unreliable narrator purposes).

From the title, you'd perhaps expect a history of the town itself. That's partially there, definitely. Maybe you'd expect a bit about the surrounding area, which is also present, nicely weaving supernatural fiction into historical fact like a gap in the Lewis & Clark expedition's logs (and Lewis's subsequent mysterious death) and Chief Joseph's attempt to take the Nez Perce to Canada. But, there's also quite a bit of alternative history re: other famous mysterious occurrences including Roswell and Nixon which has slightly less to do with the town and more the unexpected adventures of a side character.

SpoilerPerhaps a better title would be The Life and Times of Doug Milford?
Other older characters are explored (especially as history of town families), but it does seem to mostly be the
SpoilerDoug Milford exploring weird stuff
show.

On a graphics standpoint, this book is beautiful. I love the partial dust jacket (which naturally obscures
Spoilerthe owl
on the cloth cover. The footnotes (sidenotes?) by Special Agent T.P. remind me a bit of House of Leaves, especially as our commentator gets slightly less objective while commenting on a commentator. Excellent use of some subtle things that make me wonder if that's an actual typewriter quirk from I989, an actual clue, or a quirk of the dossier's author.

Overall, an excellent tie-in to an existing piece of media.