Review: House, M.D.: The Official Guide to the Hit Medical Drama by Ian Jackman, Hugh Laurie

House, M.D.: The Official Guide to the Hit Medical Drama by Ian Jackman, Hugh Laurie

Summary: "Humanity is overrated." Dr. Gregory House's pronouncement wasn't just a momentary peeve; it represents his philosophy of life. The main character on Fox's long-running House, M.D. series knows that he doesn't reside in a just universe and he refuses to beautify his opinions, medical or otherwise, with niceties. This official guide unfolds the conflicting characters, evolving dramas, and fascinating cases of this award-winning audience favorite. A perfect primer to our secret guilty pleasure.

Review: A very thorough book that talks about how the series got started, is produced, and the running of the show. Chapters on the characters make this book better although it is still a dry read.

I was very eager to read this book because I am a huge House fan although I am so behind on the seasons. Plus Hugh Laurie is quite sexy. ;) The book is structured with chapters dealing with the show and how it is run interspersed with chapters on the characters. There are some color pictures and pictures scattered throughout the book. The book has quotes from various members of the House team and little interviews along with the standard written parts of the chapter. The quotes and little interviews break up the chapters in annoying way, distracting readers with different fonts and text sizes. 

I was expecting this book to be more about the show itself, not how the show is produced. Some of the information including props and how special effects are created are pretty interesting, but I didn't want to read a whole book about it. There are still plenty of quotes and information about the characters (besides just the chapters on the characters) that give thoughts on the philosophy of the show, the characters' interactions, and where the show may be headed. The chapters on the characters were the most interesting and I would have gladly read a book that was just about the characters. This book was a bit dry and also has some spoilers for various seasons.

Rating:

Recommendation: I would recommend this book only to people who are big fans of House and possibly people who are very interested in the production of a tv show.