Seinfeldia: How a Show About Nothing Changed Everything

Written by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

Narrated by Christina Delaine

Comedians Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld never thought anyone would watch their silly little sitcom about a New York comedian sitting around talking to his friends. NBC executives didn't think anyone would watch either, but they bought it anyway, hiding it away in the TV dead zone of summer. But against all odds, viewers began to watch, first a few and then many, until nine years later nearly forty million Americans were tuning in weekly.

In Seinfeldia, acclaimed TV historian and entertainment writer Jennifer Keishin Armstrong celebrates the creators and fans of this American television phenomenon. She brings listeners behind the scenes of the show while it was on the air and into the world of devotees for whom it never stopped being relevant, a world where the Soup Nazi still spends his days saying No soup for you!, Joe Davola gets questioned every day about his sanity, Kenny Kramer makes his living giving tours of New York sights from the show, and fans dress up in Jerry's famous puffy shirt, dance like Elaine, and imagine plotlines for Seinfeld if it were still on TV.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jul 5, 2016
• ISBN: 9781515973980

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong is the New York Times bestselling author of Seinfeldia: How a Show about Nothing Changed Everything, When Women Invented Television, Sex and the City and Us, and Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted. She writes about entertainment and pop culture for the New York Times Book Review, Fast Company, Vulture, BBC Culture, Entertainment Weekly, and several others. Armstrong lives in New York's Hudson Valley.

Reviews for Seinfeldia

[Glenn Ritchey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Seinfeldia is a fun, light listen. Yes, a lot of the info it submits is relatively common; but I think the presentation is clean and engaging. It has its quirks; nonetheless, I learned a few things.

[howifeelaboutbooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love Seinfeld, and reading this book was almost like reading a highlight reel of the series, with more of a focus on behind the scenes and how the show came to be. It showed where people (Seinfeld, David, the actors, the writers) were when the show started, what influence they had on the show, and what they went on to do. Very thorough, engaging, and easy to read.

[ben · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Good light hearted reading to kick off your summer of George. If you need serenity now pick up this book and “read it from beginning to end in that order.” Visiting Seinfeldia is like catching up with an old friend. This book provides a boost of nostalgia while also providing fresh perspectives and puts the reader in the writers room.

[viviennestrauss · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Time would have been better spent watching reruns. I think so much is ruined in today's world with too much information. In other words, better to enjoy the art and not concern yourself with the artist.

[ashleytylerjohn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very nice, well researched (she talked to writers!) and I certainly learned my fair share of facts that can't be gleaned from EW profiles or TV Guide features. A compelling, speedy read.

[cubsfan3410 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a fun one to listen to. It brought back memories of many episodes and interesting backstory to the writing and writers of this show.

[salsabrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Narrated by Christina Delaine. Armstrong provides "Seinfeld" fans plenty of interesting and entertaining backstory on the production of Seinfeld. There are interviews and stories from the show's assorted writers who incorporated the mundanities of their own lives into the show's scripts (each season Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld would clear the writers deck and bring in new writers). It's particularly interesting to hear what was behind some of the most celebrated episodes such as "Master of Your Domain," the Junior Mint, and waiting for a table at the Chinese restaurant. I felt the book bogged down a bit after the show ends; Armstrong spends time describing how fans new and old have created blogs, social media accounts and art inspired by the show. Interesting but not as compelling to me as the show and the people who worked on it. Interestingly, she seems to skirt the controversy of the Puerto Rican Day Parade episode. I remember the outcry as being vividly angry and that they chose not to rerun the episode that season. Delaine's performance is straightforward, with a dusky edge that's reminiscent of NPR's Terry Gross. When voicing the show's characters or quoting the actors, she doesn't attempt a full impersonation but captures their recognizable cadences.

[indygo88 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm in the process of watching, from the beginning, all of the Seinfeld episodes -- all nine years of them. Why? Because of this book. You can't read it and then NOT want to immediately go watch. Even if you've seen them all. When I hear character names & catch phrases such as the Soup Nazi, Festivus, the Junior Mint, J. Peterman, The Contest, Elaine's dancing....(and on and on), I'm right back there with Seinfeld in the 90's. This is a mostly enjoyable book about how Seinfeld came into being and how it came to huge popularity. We learn about the producers, the writers, the actors, and lots of background info about how many of the more popular episodes got their origin (which was my favorite part). For die-hard fans, a lot of this information may not have been new, but for a casual fan such as myself, I found it fun and enlightening. The book was maybe a tad bit too long, and I was less interested in the last quarter of the book, which steered more toward Seinfeld's effects after its finale (syndication, online fan groups, lives of some of the lesser-known characters, etc.). But it was still a fun read and like I said, it prompted a "must see" reaction from me in that now I have to revisit each and every episode.

[pamv-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was such a fun book! I loved the show and loved to read about how it came to life.

[benkline · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Actually finished this book yesterday.

This book, as does all books of this type, basically falls into its own trap. Wherein, the only people really who are going to read this type of book... are those.... who already know pretty much everything that is in the book. There were a few new things learned (mainly from the writers of the show, that the author interviewed) but they were all very minor and not super vastly interesting. (I honestly debated giving this 2* or 3*, I settled on 3* but would most likely give it 2.5* on LibraryThing).

My biggest pet-peeve with the book is the way that the author insists on using the term "Seinfeldia" which is something she coined (because I've NEVER heard it anywhere before here, and I've been obsessed with Seinfeld since 7th grade). And just constantly pushing it down your throat, over and over, and over, and over. Basically anything that contains the world of Seinfeld = Seinfeldia, basically anything tangentially touched by Seinfeld or could be considered "only here because Seinfeld previously happened" = Seinfeldia. Yadda yadda yadda.

I also kind of despise when books like this claim that it changed the world (I'm currently reading a book about Guiness the beer and the family and it also talks about how 'it' changed the world too). Claiming shows like LOST, The Wire, South Park, and The Soprano's only really exist because of Seinfeld, is a far far far stretch.

The ending chapter is also a bit of a drag, discussing things like "SeinfeldToday" on Twitter and the guy who mocked SeinfeldToday by making Seinfeld2000 on Twitter and telling us what the writers of those two Twitter accounts are up to..... seems almost like padding this out and trying to somehow shoe-horn the idea "hey look, its 2016 [time of the book's writing] and Seinfeld is still very relevant!" and also kind of reads like "Hey I need to hit X number of pages.... so let's talk about some random people's Twitter accounts based on Seinfeld and some precursor to Wikia/Wiki websites on GeoCities back in the late 90s/early 00s.

Not a horrible read for a pickup from the library, definitely wouldn't buy it though. Also took me a bit to read through it, despite being easy to read, but just.... despite the subject matter.... just not interesting.

[tulsatv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great behind the scenes and trivia about the show. The show is a perfect illustration of Harlan Ellison's observation that the best stuff gets on TV when no one (particularly the network executives) is looking.

[andsoitgoes_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A must read for any Seinfeld fan. Great background information, was surprised to learn that everything that happened in the show was based on a true experience of one of the many writers. Dragged a litte in the end but otherwise interesting.

[drmaf-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating book both for Seinfeld fans and those who are just interested in the back story of popular TV shows. I can't really call myself a huge Seinfeld fan, came late to the show and I wouldn't call it a must watch, although I do have my favourite episodes. Certainly I'm not in the category of the obsessed fans and what they will do in their pursuit of Seinfeldiana that the book covers in addition to the story of how the series came to be and how it evolved into a global phenomenon. Loads of loads of Seinfeld trivia (I didn't realise that George's father was played by a different actor in his first appearance, or that the ubiquitous cashier in the diner made the most appearances after the 4 main characters), as well the stories of some of the lesser lights, those who may have appeared in only one episode, but have had their lives truly marked by it (for example the woman whose picture was used on the movie poster for Rochelle Rochelle). Absolutely fascinating book.

[ibeth_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lots of interesting back story about Seinfeld. The most surprising, to me, was the fact that Festivus was actually really invented by someone's dad (complete with the airing of grievances) and then recycled by the show's writers.

[kvrfan9 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Seinfeld fans--and who else would read it?--will find this a fun read, as the author treats them to a background/history of how the show came to be, the writers behind some of the most memorable episodes ("master of your domain," "Festivas"), and the minor intrigues behind the scenes (would the cast's demand for higher salaries prevent the filming of a ninth season?). Along the way, there is also a lot of Seinfeld trivia. (Larry David can be as irascible as the character "Larry David" he plays on "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Steve Buscemi was considered for the role of George and Patricia Heaton for Elaine. In Newman's first appearance, Wayne Knight's voice was overdubbed by Larry David.)

Once the show goes off the air, in the latter part of the book we learn more about the actor who played the "Soup Nazi" than we need to about how he cashes in on his role, and others who lives have continued to be affected by the "Seinfeld" even years after its (dreadful) last episode. While that is just the author making her case the the "state of Seinfeldia" lives on, what makes this section drag is that it says nothing as unique as the show itself was. There are many other cult TV shows out there--need I mention "Star Trek"?--and the story of Seinfeld cultists is really no different from the fans of those others.

An additional comment: I "read" this as an audio book, and I was wasn't fond of the reader that was chosen. Maybe any other reader would suffer the same criticism, but when used her voice to re-enact the characters of Seinfeld's iconic scenes, it just sounded so dissonant to my ears, as I assume it might to anyone who carry the sound of Jerry's, George's, Kramer's, Elaine's, and Larry David's voices imprinted upon their minds.