Doctor WhoThe What, Where, and How: A Fannish Guide to the TARDIS-Sized Pop Culture Jam by Valerie Estelle Frankel

Doctor WhoThe What, Where, and How: A Fannish Guide to the TARDIS-Sized Pop Culture Jam Reviews

• 
  Anna Erishkigal

  Are you my Mummy?
  
  I purchased this book for my 13-year-old daughter, who is a rabid Doctor Who fan (to the point she is walking around the house, speaking in a fake British accent). This book increased her 'street cred' fanwise. That, and the gas mask I bought her so she could cosplay one of the 'empty children.'
  
  What's really hilarious is that -I- have been a Doctor Who fan since the Fourth Doctor. Wierd, huh? Suddenly I find myself very, very cool...
  
  So ... if you want your teenager to think you're the BEST PARENT EVER, support their fandom. And use this book as a cheat sheet.
• 
  Susie

  Urgh, basically. I haven’t read a book this bad in a while. Sure, it’s packed full of information, with lots of little interesting bits that I didn’t know. But, by the looks of it, it’s just collected bits from various other sources just stapled together in overly-long lists. It is, in a way, worth reading for those bits I didn’t know, and that’s the only reason I didn’t give it one star and run away. But it’s not something I would encourage anyone to run out and buy. If I hadn’t found it for free on Amazon, I would be kicking myself for the wasted money that could have been spent on decent guides!
  
  Also, aside from the bundles of lists, the editing was done to an exceptionally poor standard that just got worse the further I read. It looked like the author had started editing and tidying things up but had gotten bored by the end!
  
  Seriously though, if someone can recommend to me some decent Doctor Who guides that won’t leave me growling in frustration most of the way through, then please let me know!
• 
  CuteBadger

  I got this book as a freebie for Kindle in the run-up to the Doctor Who 50th anniversary celebrations. I found it interesting, but a bit "cut and paste" in places. It lists the impact of Doctor Who on popular culture and the impact of popular culture on Doctor Who over the past five decades and at times is literally just a list.
  
  Other sections of the book go into more detail about particular episodes of the series and attempt to rationalise some of its success using psychological theories. However in the latter case it seems that most of these theories are taken from works written by other authors, hence the "cut and paste" tag.
  
  It's an interesting enough read for fans of the show though I don't know how much it will satisfy fans at the more rabid end of the spectrum.
• 
  Wiktoria

  I got this book on Amazon for free - it was a special offer on the 50th anniversary of "Doctor Who." I am new to Who so this book has been quite useful in explaining matters related to the series. But perhaps it would not be very interesting for someone well-versed in the Whoniverse. The book is full of lists enumerating important fact as well as trivia. It seems to me that there is too much of these lists, which only give information and do not comment upon it or interpret it, also because such things as titles of episodes or names of Doctor's companions can easily be found online. I expected some critical essays on Doctor Who, and if you are also looking for them, this book is not for you. However, it is a good introduction for Who newbies.
• 
  Jay

  I'm afraid I didn't like it, I tried hard to but it didn't happen!
  It reads like a list of Factoids strung together to tantalise the tastebuds of the more Hardcore fans. As someone who "Just watches/views" DR WHO (I know, how can you just watch Dr Who?) I didn't need the sheer level of detail given in the lists, and yes that's what the book is. It's a list of Hardcore Dr Who Facts for Hardcore Dr Who Fans!
  
  I guess I was more hoping for a bit more passion and explanation than the bare bricks and mortar facts!
• 
  ArwendeLuhtiene

  Included a series of interesting info and trivia from both Classic and New Who (up to The Day of the Doctor), but the structure was pretty disorganized at times and didn't quite hold my attention as I was expecting (and would probably confuse people who are relatively new to the fandom). Would still recommend to Whovians for light reading.
• 
  Elzibub

  The text is interesting, but the narrator is lacking. She enunciates well, but the pacing is sometimes odd & she often mispronounces terms, names & places.
• 
  Monica Fastenau

  Read the full review on my blog:
  http://newberyandbeyond.com/doctor-ex...
  
  Holy trivia, Batman! This book discusses every reference, both internal and external, related to Doctor Who. It covers retcons, literature associated with Doctor Who (and how Doctor Who relates to books, TV, and the internet), self-references, spin offs and novelizations (and all the expanded universe of Doctor Who), pop culture references, catalogs references to literature, religion, TV, comics, myths, music, games, and more; along with references to Doctor Who in other media. As Frankel says, “[Doctor Who] is a program about ourselves, a cultural mirror defining what fandom is and what it can accomplish.” This rings especially true as fanfiction and professional work are merging, with the addition of huge Doctor Who fans like Moffat, Davies, and David Tennant.
  
  So much is included in this book that even the most detail-oriented super-fan will definitely learn something from this book.
• 
  Jennifer johnson

  I love anything Dr Who related. Great read for any fan! A+
• 
  Mai

  great for doctor who fans