As a fellow superfan, I was intrigued by Weldon's endorsement, if not a bit skeptical. I've read a lot about Twin Peaks: I've read the umpteenth tellings of how BOB came to be and the umpteenth times Ray Wise recalled reading the pilot script and being dismayed by how much crying Leland Palmer does. I've read more obscure details in multitudinous issues of Wrapped in Plastic and books by Brad Dukes, Andreas Halskov, and many others. I surmised there was still a lot to learn about 2017's The Return, and perhaps even 1992's Fire Walk with Me, but I was doubtful there was much left to uncover about the original series. Plus, Meslow's book is only about 250 pages long.
Nevertheless, I made a little more effort to score a review copy, received one, and dived in. Reruns of the BOB and crying Leland stories notwithstanding, A Place Both Wonderful and Strange actually does offer plenty of original series revelations for the well-read fan. That's largely because Meslow didn't merely rest on the volumes of Peaks information already floating around out there. He conducted new interviews, not just with actors, but with two key creators: Mark Frost and Meslow's very own neighbor Harley Peyton, who basically served as showrunner in the second season while Frost and David Lynch were busy with other projects.
And so we learn that Audrey Horne was not the only character considered for a spinoff, the measures Frost and Lynch took to make sure they had the best resolution to "Who Killed Laura Palmer?", and the original fates of characters who seemingly met their demises in the final episode of the original run, as well as some plans for the nineties third season that wasn't to be. Naturally, there is also a lot to learn about The Return, which has yet to be examined as closely as the original series but obviously deserves to be.
Everything in A Place Both Wonderful and Strange won't be a revelation to the most dedicated Twin Peaks maniac, but I did get the sense that Meslow was mostly concerned with providing fresh details, which would account for why his book is pretty short and why he doesn't bother with certain well-discussed topics, such as the series' music. While he does include some of the creator's and actor's perspectives on the more inscrutable elements of the series, he doesn't do much analysis of his own. The one exception is the author's theory regarding the final episode of The Return, which I found to be admirably simple and sound.
A Place Both Wonderful and Strange is not the only book about Twin Peaks a fan will need—if nothing else, you have to at least supplement with Brad Dukes's fabulous oral history—but I definitely recommend stocking a copy in your bookhouse.
