My Mad Men Reading List

A perk of living on the west coast is that by the time I get up on Monday morning, the East Coasters have written their morning-after-Mad-Men posts. I don’t know about you, but I love the dimension that internet recaps and essays have added to my television viewing. First I get to talk an episode over with Scott, and the next day I get to consider the insights of other ponderers. Beats a water cooler any day.

Here are my favorite of the Mad Men regulars:

• The Footnotes of Mad Men. Want to see the Volkswagen ad Don is heaping scorn on? Unclear on what’s the big deal about a Hermes scarf? This blog is what an American studies course looks like in the 21st century—or should.

• The weekly open thread hosted by Ta-Nehisi Coates at The Atlantic. Thoughtful, intelligent discussion in the comments.

• The TV Club at Slate: author Patrick RaddenKeefe and Slate editors Julia Turner and John Swansburg post letters to each other in which they take turns probing the night’s themes, twists, and tensions.

Got any Mad Men must-reads in your reader?