Twin Peaks books

Twin Peaks has spawned several successful books due to its success. During the show's second season, Pocket Books released three official tie-in books, each authored by the show's creators (or their family) which offer a wealth of backstory.

Official releases

The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes

(ISBN 978-0-330-27280-3), 1991: by Scott Frost (Mark Frost's brother). A collection of transcripts from Agent Dale Cooper's audio tapes, from his childhood to the day he is assigned to Laura Palmer's murder. The book includes Dale's upbringing in Philadelphia, family, education at Quaker institutions Germantown Friends School and Haverford College, first stumbles with love, obsession with the FBI, and the relationship between him, Windom Earle, and Earle's wife, Caroline. Many of these tape transcripts are dictated to "Diane," though a later tape states that Cooper enjoys the thought of Diane listening to his tapes so much that he will address all tapes to her, whether she will ever listen to them or not.

The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer

Main article: The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer

(ISBN 978-0-671-73590-6), 1990, written by Jennifer Lynch (David Lynch's daughter). Lynch paints a haunting portrait of an abused teen's double life, falling into a world of prostitution and cocaine abuse, while maintaining the status quo as homecoming queen and high school student. Published during the summer between the original broadcasts of the first and second seasons, the book provided fans with much-sought-after information regarding Laura's veiled personal life, including her knowledge of and/or relationship with the enigmatic character of "Killer Bob." For the most part, Lynch's book is faithful to the Lynch/Frost collaboration as it existed at the time of its publication. However, discrepancies exist, as when Laura describes a slumber party with friend Donna and cousin Maddy, contradicting a scene in Season One in which they are introduced for the first time after her death. Season Two strays from the Secret Diary by referring to diary entries that do not appear in Lynch's work and by setting the date of her death, and thus (if we assume she was seventeen years old when she died) her birth a year earlier than in the diary. (In Season Two, Episode Four, Harold Smith states that the date is "Tuesday, March 7th," making the year 1989, not 1990.) This can be resolved by simply mentally adjusting all dates in the diary to one year earlier than the date printed, since the TV show and film Fire Walk with Me definitively fix the events of the series in 1989.

Twin Peaks: An Access Guide to the Town

(ISBN 978-0-671-74399-4) 1991 (Author(s) unknown). This is the most light-hearted and humorous of the books. The book is a parody of a traveller's guide book, as published by the Twin Peaks Chamber of Commerce. Inside, fans can find anything from a history of the Native Americans around the area, to a list of songs on the jukebox in the Double-R Diner. A double-page ad in the middle portrays David L. Lander and Gregg Fienberg (show's producer) as brothers "Tim and Tom," who offer a "Taxi-Dermy" service: the blind Tim (Fienberg) will drive you anywhere within the Twin Peaks city limits, while Tom (Lander) will stuff and mount any fish or game, up to and including the size of a bear. Pete Martell refers to the shop during the series while displaying a taxidermied fish.

"Diane..." - The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper (Audio book)

Written by Scott Frost (interspersed with clips from the series). Early in season 2, Simon & Schuster Audio released Diane ... The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper, a cassette-only release performed by Kyle MacLachlan. The tape consisted of newly recorded Cooper messages to his never-seen assistant, Diane, mixed in with monologues from the original broadcasts. The tape begins with a prologue monologue in which Cooper discusses his impending trip to Twin Peaks, continues with the initial monologue heard in the pilot, and continues to a point after his recovery from being shot.

For his work, Kyle MacLachlan was nominated for a Grammy Award for best spoken-word performance.

The Twin Peaks Gazette

The The Twin Peaks Gazette was a fake newspaper named after the town's own imprint. It gave fans insight into upcoming episodes and behind the scenes information and was sent to subscribers who joined the Official Fan Club. Original issues fetch high prices on eBay, and the newspaper was discontinued just before the series was canceled.

An online version of the "newspaper", Twinpeaksgazette.com, run by fans, began in 1995 and was discontinued in 2012. A replacement site, The Twin Peaks Gazette, which covers news and rumors about a potential Twin Peaks return, was started shortly afterward.

Twin Peaks Trading Cards

A series of trading cards, featuring information on the cast, crew and characters.

Unofficial releases

Twin Peaks Behind-the-scenes: An Unofficial Visitors Guide to Twin Peaks

(ISBN 978-1-556-98284-2), 1991. Written by Mark Altman.

Welcome To Twin Peaks

(ISBN 978-0-451-17031-6), 1990. Written by Scott Knickelbine. A Complete Guide to Who's Who and What's What. This book was unauthorized and was later pulled from the shelves.

A Twin Peaks Interpretation

(ISBN 978-0-227-17674-0), 1992. Written by Patricia Shook. "A 90's person's view of the Twin Peaks television series".

Full of Secrets: Critical Approaches to Twin Peaks

(ISBN 978-0-814-32506-3), 1995. Edited by David Lavery. "Full of Secrets" contains a collection of essays considering David Lynch's politics, the musical score, and the show's cult status, treatment of family violence, obsession with doubling, and silencing of women. Also included are a director and writer list, a cast list, a "Twin Peaks" calendar, a complete scene breakdown for the entire series, and a comprehensive bibliography. Essays include: "Lynching Women: A Feminist Reading of Twin Peaks", "Family Romance, Family Violence, and the Fantastic in Twin Peaks", "Infinite Games: The Derationalization of Detection in Twin Peaks", "Desire Under the Douglas Firs: Entering the Body of Reality in Twin Peaks", "The Canonization of Laura Palmer".

Wrapped in Plastic. Twin Peaks

(ISBN 978-1-77041-210-1), 2015. Written by Andy Burns. Essays on and interviews with principals associated with the Twin Peaks television series.

TV Peaks: Twin Peaks and Modern Television Drama

(ISBN 978-87-7674-906-4), 2015. Written by Andreas Halskov. "TV Peaks" is a TV historical book that explores the last 25 years of American and Scandinavian television. "TV Peaks" argues that Twin Peaks was a game changer, pointing to a more transgressive, genre-bending and serialized type of TV drama, but the book also explores structural, industrial, systemic and sociological factors. Based on interviews with numerous TV scholars, fans and cast and crew members, "TV Peaks" investigates the recent changes in television, and it combines fandom studies, textual analysis and television history.

See also

• List of television series made into books