We explore the books that gave us more clues to Twin Peaks' world.
TheTwin Peaksnovels, most released at the height of the shows popularity, arent traditional TV tie-in literature.
They arent focused on background extras or telling one off adventures that couldnt quite make the cut as episodes.
Uniquely though, this is not done through traditional stories but found media.
How much relevance do these books have?
Are they must reads?
Do they clear up confusing plot points or deepen the mysteries?
Lets see what little secrets we can find.
Thirteen years old and the apple of my dads eye.
It was the one given to Harold Smith that ultimately led to his death.
Take this early passage where Maddy visits with Laura and Donna and the three discuss French kissing.
When I heard how you do it, I got a very strange funny feeling in my stomach.
Different from… never mind.
This book doesnt sugar coat Laura being a victim of incest.
Laura tries to shove all her bad thoughts down to replace them with good.
Perhaps she allowed BOB in.
Perhaps she caused all these bad things to happen to her.
Bobby tearfully revealed that Laura laughed at him.
Thanks to the diary we know why.
This destroys him and the Bobby Briggs we see in the series was defined by this moment.
The book also confirms that Laura is at least bi-curious, revealing she was attracted to Ronette Pulaski.
As with the series, the portrayal of BOB in the book can be interpreted a number of ways.
The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer is without a doubt the most essential of all theTwin Peaksbooks.
The book has long stretches that arent exactly the most relevant and instead concern young Coopers desire for sex.
Much of the first chunk of the book details Coopers teen years and college experiences.
Still though, even in those early life sections theres a lot of joy to be had.
In contrast to Lauras teen years, Cooper has a much more inquisitive view of the world.
He wants to explore and learn, even attempting to function without sleeping or going to the bathroom.
TheTwin Peaksworld was full of darkness but it also had some amusing quirks this book brings to the fore.
When the book does venture into darkness it isnt quite as soul crushingly depressing as the Secret Diary.
Cooper experiences evil and darkness in the world yet refuses to be drawn in by it.
In contrast to Laura, Cooper resists the idea of using cocaine as a coping mechanism.
Its even hinted that BOB or some other force like him has visited Cooper and his family.
Early on he describes a dream where a man is outside his house and wants be let in.
Its here that we see a key difference between Cooper and Laura.
Lauras father, Leland, allowed BOB inside himself.
The similarities between Laura and Cooper dont stop there.
Cooper even has a dream about a blonde and a dancing little man before he comes to Twin Peaks.
In the book, much is made of Earles chess game and what happened with Caroline.
Cooper even expresses a fear of dentists in a seemingly throwaway entry.
Twin Peaks: Access Guide to the Town
The Twin Peaks Flower: The Pine Cone.
There are two sides toTwin Peaks, the darkness and the quirkiness.
The Secret Diary rested in the darkness while the Cooper book straddled the line between the two worlds.
The Access Guide exists purely in the quirkiness and suffers because of it.
If you hadnt noticed by now, Im a hugeTwin Peaksfan.
Im fully immersed inTwin Peaksand any chance to get a new piece of it I will jump on.
I struggled to get through the Access Guide.
Its not because it was bad or didnt jive with the show; it was just boring.
On the whole though, its a lot of pointless information.
The Access Guide is akin to a tie-in website for a major film or TV series.
The Secret Diary and Cooper book both work because theyre centered on people we know.
Well, I am not a kook.
Richard Nixon
Yes, Richard Nixon is a character in aTwin Peaksbook.
Let that sink in for a moment.
The Secret History of Twin Peaks is an extremely divisive book amongstTwin Peaksfans.
Some hail at a mystery to be solved, one whos meaning will slowly be uncovered over time.
Others dismiss it outright, that it barely works within theTwin Peakscanon and has too many errors.
I tend to fall in the latter camp, with a few reservations.
It spans from Lewis and Clarks expedition to yes, Richard Nixon and his cover up of aliens.
Dougie Milford, a minor character in the series, writes many of the documents.
While the existence of extraterrestrial life was hinted at in the series it was quickly debunked.
The fact the book leans so heavily on UFOs is disappointing.
I dont come toTwin Peaksfor these kinds of conspiracy theories.
The book also adds a lot of needless back-story that ruins a few of the characters.
None are worse than what is done to the Log Lady, who was apparently abducted by aliens.
If thats true, it does a great disservice to the way she was portrayed.
In the series, the Log Lady wasnt normal.
She thought her log talked and spoke in riddles.
Not everything needs an explanation after all.
According to the book Normas mother is dead when she was clearly alive in the series.
The Final Dossier tries to make this work but it just feels like its fixing a continuity error.
More on that in a bit.
Another passage gets the entire courtship (or lack thereof) of Big Ed and Nadine completely wrong.
How can this book be so filled with errors?
Why should I care if the whole book could be a forgery or from the new timeline?
(If you couldnt tell, I wasnt the biggest fan of the season three finale.)
The book becomes even more dubious when you learn that David Lynch admitted he never read it.
TP aka Tamara Preston seems like a completly different character in the book than she does in the show.
The whole book, especially after season three aired, is a frustrating read.
Im fine, she says.
Plus, it actually fills in the gaps between seasons two and three!
Theres no superfluous information or mind numbing entries about aliens.
The fates of damn near every major character are revealed and theyre all pretty damn satisfying.
Leo Johnson did die but it wasnt because of spider bites.
Tarantulas arent ever fatally venomous, dipshit; they just look scary remarks Albert in Leos autopsy.
Donna became a model and moved to the big city.
Jerry Horne started a weed empire.
Dr. Jacoby donates ninety percent of his Dr. Amp profits to charitable progressive causes.
James… well, he certainly was never cool thats for sure.
And what about Norma?
How does the book resolve that continuity error?
Okay, this is a kind of an asspull on the books part but go with me here.
Normas father actually married Vivian after Normas real mother died (which lines up with The Secret History).
Then her father died.
Then Vivian married another man who raped Annie.
He died (good riddance) so Vivian remarried again to Ernie Niles.
It doesnt totally make up for the original continuity error but points for trying to make it work.
Other entries are crucial to understanding the whole ofTwin Peaksmythology.
Judy finally gets a reasonable, forTwin Peaksanyway, explanation.
If you read the above passage from the book, you know the answer.
Its a great one that leaves the book, and possibly the franchise, on a high note.
Big thanks toIn Twin Peaksfor their screencap archive of the series.
