Six Feet Under

by Alan Ball

The hugely successful drama brings its intelligent writing to a new book. Six Feet Under is a family drama with a macabre twist - it's set in a funeral parlour. The show has quickly grown into a bona fide cultural phenomenon, grabbing many Golden Globe and Emmy Awards in 2002, as well as a UK Comedy Award. Now, Six Feet Under's producers turn their attentions to creating a one-of-a-kind companion book. With an introduction and contributions by Alan Ball as well as the show's head writers, this book will reveal the untold stories of the characters and the events in their lives. The Six Feet Under characters are both people who live next door and the people we have never met. The Six Feet Under book takes us behind the scenes of their complex lives, including material from the yet-unaired third season, as well as providing synopses of the 39 episodes to set the stage. It is designed with an elegant, spare look reflecting the feel of the show and begulles readers as only Six Feet Under can.

Genres: Nonfiction, Media Tie In, Tv, Film

205 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Alan Ball is an Academy Award-winning screenwriter, director, producer and occasional actor, who is best known for writing the screenplay for the Oscar-winning film American Beauty, and for creating the HBO original drama series Six Feet Under.

Reviews

[Mohammad · Rating 5 out of 5]

من فقط سریالش رو دیدم و در یک کلام بی نظیر.
یک سریال کاملا درام با پس زمینه مرگ و البته پر از جنبه های عادی زندگی با بازی های خیلی خوب و دیالوگ هایی که بعضا بسیار سنگین و عمیق اند و درعین حال باورپذیر. سازنده این سریال به نظرم غوغا کرده
گرچه افت هم داشت، ولی اینقدر تکه های بی نظیر داشت و اینقدر اون تکه ها بی نظیرند که لایق نمره کامله.
به قول یکی شما با این سریال مرگ رو تجربه می کنید و آخرش واقعا سنگین و فوق العاده است.

Wonderful.
This TV-series is more than wonderful.
It makes you experience dying.!!!!!

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm studying to be a funeral director and while I had that passion before this show, after it ended, it became my determination. Best HBO show ever. I love this book and when I met Peter Krause, he signed the back page: "enjoy the journey".

[Kerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six Feet Under is one of my favourite shows, so I couldn't pass up reading this companion book. It was fun to read and did provide some nice insight into the characters. I would have loved some in depth interviews and more information on the actual making of the show rather than brief glimpses, but many of the details revealed here were fun. I especially liked Claire's story, and the details of Ruth and Nathaniel's early days together.

Some articles that had the information the book lacked were a nice addition:
https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/...
https://ew.com/tv/tv-reunions/six-fee...

[Nicky (burialshroud) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six Feet Under is one of my favourite ever TV shows. I have cherished memories of watching it week-by-week back in the day when such things were done, then paying through the nose to get the DVDs shipped over from the U.S. so that I could watch the episodes all over again as soon as possible. I still hold the series finale up as the gold standard by which all other TV finales are measured.

Better Living Through Death is a scrapbook of photos, clippings and correspondence between characters (letters, webchats) from within the first three seasons of the show. It has excerpts from Nathaniel and Isabel (which I kinda wish was a real book series) and Charlotte Light and Dark (which I REALLY wish was a real book). It's a great companion to the show, much more imaginative than the usual cast interviews, blah blah blah set design costumes yadda-yadda stuff you get in companion books. It's also a cut above most coffee table (read:toilet) books for the sheer variety of material. It's really hard for me to judge whether it would stand alone but I'm going to tentatively say that yes it would. The items in the book are in chronological order and give some specific insights into the characters and chart the important relationships and events, it's obvious who everyone is and what they're up to so I don't see why it couldn't be enjoyed alone. Check it out!

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six Feet Under is one of my favorite television shows, so when I stumbled upon this book of letters, photographs, stories, etc. highlighting the lives of the characters beyond what was shown in the show, I was delighted. I would only recommend this to the die-hard fans of SFU because of the content - if you only have seen a few episodes, or jumped around in the seasons, a great deal of the content will be lost on you. A very fun and creative homage to one of the greatest television series ever.

[Megan Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I agree with other reviewers that this is for serious fans only, might seem too random and meaningless to others. I think this an outstanding collection of artifacts relevant to the show but better appreciated in print: excerpts of Charlotte Light and Dark, Billy and Claire's IMs, love letters of the Fishers, and other things just mentioned in the show. The book is creative, intriguing, shocking, thought-provoking, intimate, authentic, and relative - all of the reasons for falling in love with Six Feet Under. This is a must for any fan wanting more of The Fisher family.

[Ross Bonaime · Rating 2 out of 5]

Six Feet Under is by far my favorite TV show of all time, and even I found little substance in "Six Feet Under: Better Living Through Death." There's a few interesting bits and pieces, mostly about Brenda's childhood, Claire's creative writing and letters back and forth between a young Nathaniel and Ruth, but nothing that isn't already hinted at in the series. I sort of wish that this book had come out once the series was done, because as it is, it just stops near the end of the third season unceremoniously. If this book had simply been a celebration of the series as a whole, or maybe been more about Brenda's childhood, complete with both "Charlotte, Light and Dark" and "Nathaniel and Isobel," it probably would've been better than this scattershot glimpse at things fans of the show would already know.

[Meg Deere · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm on a mission to read everything written by Jill Soloway- I had no idea what I was in for here, and as a person who loved Six Feet Under (truly, I'm sure a moment from this show crosses my mind weekly), I really enjoyed it. Although not the best glimpse at Soloway writing, I really enjoyed flipping through.

[rinabeana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really neat idea. I wish it covered the whole series instead of just the first 3 seasons...

[Phoebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

It offers very interesting and partly funny background information about the characters. Most of it is nothing really new, but it stays very true to the characters and goes a bit in depth (letters, etc.). It does not cover the entire show, but only season 1 to 3 (at least in my edition from 2003).
------------------------------------------------
Es bietet sehr interessante und teilweise witzige Hintergründe zu den Charakteren. Das meiste ist zwar grundsätzlich nichts Neues, allerdings quasi im O-Ton der Charaktere (Briefe, etc.). Zeitlich wird nicht die komplette Serie abgedeckt, in etwa Staffel 1 bis 3 (zumindest in meiner Ausgabe von 2003).

[cubbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

i dreamed for books like this to exist for all my favorite books when i was a kid. documents!!! i love it!

it was over too fast, though. i wanted more. i wanted it to be richer. and it made the characters seem just a little thinner and stereotyped than in the show. but hey, i got to read some of nathaniel and isabel and charlotte light and dark!

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE this book. Getting snippets from these character's pasts (report cards, letters, rejection letters, etc..) gives you even more insight on how they each developed into such different types of people. Plus, they've got a 'unique' outlook on death like none of the rest of us probably do.

[Travis Hi. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful companion to the series (I'm a big fan) but also stands on its own quite nicely. Stylishly designed, with insight into the characters (as shown through old report cards, love letters, etc.) that you can trust an "canonical" as they were written by the show's writing staff.

[J.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing extension of characters' lives beyond the bounds of the show. Incredibly original, fascinating, powerful, and fun, with truly gorgeous design. A really unique experience from the very first page.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast read. And a must read for the SFU fan. I enjoyed reading the various forms of dialogue between the characters - not really Brenda's babbling, but everything else is great! The book filled in some holes from the show, but I wish more was revealed. Good reading.

[brook · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty cool for someone as obsessed with the show as myself, but probably considered a waste of time for most.

[Andrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

As many people here have noticed, the book probably doesn't stand on its own, but works great as an extension of the beloved TV show.

Scrapbooks are so neat! It's the format of the future.

[Will perdue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is just pictures and letters and memories from the show. It is just fun to have to look at once in a while.

[Addie Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

companion books are cheesy and worthless, mostly. this one is actually quite well done. (or maybe I am biased because this is my most beloved tv show).

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

an interesting collection of stuff - photos, character's letters, and the like from mid way through the show's run. A must for any true fan of the show.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool background information.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the format of this book. I'm nervous about reading it, however, because I've only seen the first season of six feet under and I don't want to come across any spoilers...

[Sarah Brandel]

The book made me miss the show, though the excerpts from the books that were invented for the show were a bit disappointing. Still, I may convince myself to watch the fifth season after all.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great companion book to the series, telling you even more back story of each of the characters. A fabulous book for a fabulous series :)

[Robbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rarely happens but I'm actually liking watching the hours and hours of HBO TV programs developed from this book. I'm on season 4 and have season 5 waiting...

[April Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must have for any Six Feet Under fan.

[Gordon Ambos]

Großartiges Buch! Ein Muss für SFU Fans!! :]

[Reija · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish more tv shows would make this kind of back story books.

[Jacqueline Dunkley]

This book stays and lives in my soul forever. I will continue to read it every time I finish the series x

[NaTaya Hastings · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautiful way for me to dive back into a family and world that meant - and still means - so much to me. I was really disappointed in myself for not knowing about this book sooner. As big of a SFU fan as I was, I was beating myself up for never knowing this existed.

After reading it today, 18 years after the show ended, I'm so glad that I never knew about it before. It gave me a way to dive back in and spend a little extra time with Nate, Claire, David, Ruth, and all the rest.

I loved the excerpts from Charlotte Light and Dark and Nathaniel and Isabelle. I loved getting to read a few pages of Brenda's (HORRIBLE) novel. Seeing the notes from Nate's and Claire's teachers and guidance counselors really gave me new insight into them as characters.

I am so thrilled to have gotten to read this now. I only hope that there's another Six Feet Under book out there somewhere that I don't know about. If so, maybe I'll discover it in another 10 years and get to dive back in again.