Paying Respect to the ""Sopranos

This work, one of the first academic studies of The Sopranos to include references to the highly regarded show's final episode, provides a detailed account of lead character Tony Soprano's psychological journey through all eight seasons of the popular HBO show's successful run. Discussing the series through a window of psychological interpretation and social analysis, the author examines The Sopranos unique representation of modern family dynamics, organized crime, contemporary American society, and mental health.Early chapters focus on Tony's influential early life experiences, as represented by several flashbacks and revealed through his many therapy sessions. These chapters also reveal the mental stress that affects Tony as a direct result of his involvement with organized crime and his ever-fluctuating relationships with his wife and children. Later chapters focus on internal conflicts and behavioral symptoms commonly affecting the populace of Tony's world, as well as on the critical role that Tony's mental therapy sessions play in his ultimate psychological journey. The book's final chapters explore the Soprano family as a unified whole, including an evaluation of each character's development throughout the series and an analysis of the roles of symbolism, food, and storytelling in creating The Sopranos universe.