What are some books with a similar feel to Mad Men?

>It's just a good show.
Its not that great. Watching the episodes back-to-back rather than in staggered weekly release unveils some pretty extreme variances in how characters are written and the overall tone. Its like the writers really didn't know what they were doing, especially early on (this levels out around the time of the divorce)
Plus, as far as marketing majors are concerned, the actual analysis of how marketing works, where ideas come from and etc. is only really present in the first few seasons, clearly intended to try and draw a broader audience into the show but they don't stick with it.

I loathe advertising and Mad Men is my favorite show

the variance of characters actions is what I actually enjoyed, they didn't seem like one dimensional inserts centering around one recognizable trait, they felt like real people who contradict themselves all the time. Most of the characters go back and forth between being hated to being loved for this reason. Pete and Don are obvious examples but characters like Roger can sometimes feel awesome and charming in episodes while in others the same persona seems childish and annoying

Revolutionary Road

I am really unsure of this criticism. I'm watching the show for the second time and am on season 6 now, so I've seen a considerable amount. I haven't noticed any of the inconsistencies in the earlier seasons that you mention. I feel like everyone on the show is realistic and fleshed out and, as said, any variances feel natural and, if anything, improve the show.

This. The characters are not inconsistent, they just feel like real people who make the awful yet common mistake of bringing their egos to work.

Their actions are not inconsistent, they're usually just ego-driven. This is especially noticeable in the later seasons when their issues, insecurities, traumas, and past mistakes blow up in their faces.

And that's why they feel so real sometimes.

bonfire of vanities

watch it in conjunction with the century of the self by adam curtis and a few of his other documentaries (episode two of all watched over by machines I think)

plebs dislike madmen because there are no likeable characters and they're all flawed.....plebs want to watch a series where they can fantasise about being one of the lead characters.

>mfw Veeky Forums thinks draper is da man.

Is madmen that good?

yes goddammit

John Cheever, Raymond Carver, Richard Yates essential reading while watching Mad Men

I've watched through the series maybe 6 times.

It's my favorite TV show along with The Wire, fwiw. It's more or less the great american novel of TV shows and it explores 60's America and 60's advertising perfectly. Things like paranoia, unrest, the problem with no name, war traumas, historic events and subcultures are featured in the show.

And Weiner was pretty autistic about being faithful. Fucker even checked the weather forecasts for the day an episode was supposed to take place in. In one episode you can see Don entering the office with a somewhat wet coat, despite the fact that you can see that it's fairly sunny outside. The coat was wet because a small rain was reported in NYC that day.

YESSSSS

get yourself a bottle of single malt and dive in.
I always viewed it as a document of american social history. its about the formation of the post ww2 western mindset.

watch century of the self first

While Don is not the person anyone should look up to, his mannerisms, charisma and attitude is so fucking cool, I get the admiration

without a doubt the greatest TV drama ever made. And what's great is that it never has an inconsistent episode or season, and never loses its flair or quality or overstays its welcome.

The James Bond books desu, none of the movies have done them justice

Mate, I've come to accept that it's not usually a good idea to look for things with a 'similar feel' to others. Because you can never really replicate it and always feel disappointed.

yes but he's utterly flawed and fundamentally weak and lost

the show really isn't that great in the beginning. Im not just saying this to be a try hard either. Ham is also a terrible actor

>hamm is also a terrible actor

this, I felt this recently after watching Barry Lyndon for the first time. I tried watching any similar period piece to find anything like that feeling but nothing is the same...

>Ham is a terrible actor

The only way you can find something 'similar' is by watching another film/show by the same director. And with Barry Lyndon, well, Kubrick hasn't really done anything else like it. Shame he never got to make that Napoleon film...

what the fuck is your major dilemma, corporal ?

BEST DOCO EVER - not that I agree with everything Adam Curtis presents.

I couldn't watch Mad Men because Peggy was so insufferable.

Of course I'm not saying I have to like her or anything, but every single second with her on screen made me want to watch the show less and less until I dropped it

Right but there are some utterly nonsensical contradictions and out-of-character moments. The early seasons feel like their trying to build to some extreme cynicism (especially with Peggy and how everyone reacts so bizarrely to her situation).
Again, things level out really well once Don's family dynamic changes and the show is better for not trying to have these inflated dramatic characters juxtaposed "shockingly" with domestic life. Scenes like Don confronting Peggy with his "EVERY PITCH IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU" rant, or the scene in the apartment with his daughter and the rum bottle are fucking excellent. But by comparison, shit like Peggy's entire arc throughout the first few seasons just seem trite and half-baked.

I totally see where people get put off by the first few seasons, unless they're total Lifetime TV drama whores.

Another example of the contrast in the quality of the storytelling is the arc with Don visiting The real Don Draper's Wife in California. The entire time he's there, you don't need any of the first few seasons' retardedly over-the-top moral absurdity like rape and spousal abuse. Its a completely humanizing look at Don, and at the same time it illustrates his deep-seated immorality and inhumanity.
Compare that to context-less, out-of-left-field scenes like Don tracking Peggy down to tell her to abandon her newborn rape baby in the early seasons, and the contrast in tone and characterization is obvious.