Meet the Stars of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

FROM THE ARCHIVES (Buffy book reviews)

MEET THE STARS OF BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER

Jan Gabriel (New York: Scholastic, 1998)

RATING: 4/5 Stakes

BACK-OF-THE-BOOK SUMMARY: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer is total must see—the coolest kickin’ hour of teen power on TV. Blazing into its third sizzling season, Buffy is the chosen show, funny and scary and heartbreaking and loving and real. It’s generation next, to the max. Sarah Michelle Gellar as the Buffster is one huge reason, but Nicholas Brendon as Xander, Alyson Hannigan as Willow, David Boreanaz as Angel, Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia, and Seth Green as Oz are the slammingest sidekicks a slayer, or her fans, could ask for. What’s their real life deal? Here’s the place to find out.”

REVIEW

“Slammingest”? “Generation next, to the max”? The back cover copy is lovely cheesy fun, obviously written by someone several decades older than the subjects of the book. Slang aside, Meet the Stars of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is actually a decent, short biography of the main actors in the show. Several chapters focus on Sarah Michelle Gellar, with individual chapters on David Boreanaz, Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendon, Seth Green, and Charisma Carpenter (sorry Tony Head!). Written shortly after Season Two, the book is by no means comprehensive but the writing is breezy and eminently readable. Better yet, it’s not sycophantic and is willing to talk about some of the actors’ more controversial traits, such as Gellar’s reputation for bitchiness. To my mind, this is a cheaper and far more entertaining way to get a quick overview of the actors’ pre-Buffy work than the Watcher’s Guides.