Designed for pop culture fans, particularly baby boomers like me, Mark Dawidziak's fun and, yes, thought provoking book Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Twilight Zone mostly works as a concept. Rather than analyzing episodes one-by-one or engaging in deep cultural analysis, Dawidziak organizes the book according to "life lessons" such as "what doesn't kill you will make you stronger" or "pride comes before a fall." He then loosely discusses relevant episodes and points out how they support the lesson in question. It works because Twilight Zone fans (aren't we all TZ fans to some extent?) can remember and relate to the episodes. We can ponder the lessons illustrated in them that we may not have thought about. Baby boomers would have mostly been children at the time of the broadcasting of the series from 1959-1964 (for example, I was 4-9 years old) and may not have analyzed the deeper implications of the show. The book is entertainingly and humorously written, making it very readable. It's not a deep philosophical analysis but does provide insights. His "guest statements" written by a wide range of interesting media, scifi and other personalities adds interest and depth. My only complaint is that there is some redundancy as some of the same episodes are used for several chapters. Considering there were 150+ episodes, there isn't really a need to be repetitive, in my opinion. All-in-all, the book is a fun, light read with some nostalgic flavor.
For a review of the book from Popmythology, click here: https://www.popmythology.com/everything-i-need-to-know-i-learned-in-the-twilight-zone/
For a review of the book from Popmythology, click here: https://www.popmythology.com/everything-i-need-to-know-i-learned-in-the-twilight-zone/
