With the debut of Deadwood on HBO, a vision of the “Old West” emerged that was unlike anything done before on TV. David Milch, also the creator of NYPD Blue, imbued the series with his signature use of harsh language, complex storylines, and shocking acts of violence. The characters he created redefined the hackneyed stereotypes of the Western genre, from the harassed but defiant "Chinaman," Mr. Wu, to the murderous, ferociously funny Al Swearengen, to the whiskey-drinking Calamity Jane who's only too happy to help her friend run the new brothel in town. Reading Deadwood offers an entertaining and eye-opening look into everything from the use of profanity, the characters, and the way the show bends the genre, to subjects like prostitution, race, and the making of American civil society. Complete with episode and character guides, no fan of Deadwood--and no one interested in Westerns--should be without this book.

David Lavery is a world authority on television drama whose books include the recent Reading the Sopranos (2006), as well as This Thing of Ours: Investigating The Sopranos, Fighting the Forces: What's at Stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and is also co-editor of Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies. He is a professor of English at Middle Tennessee State University.