The Secret History of Twin Peaks

[BEARisonFord]

Was Bob specifically mentioned in the book? I know jacoby talks about possession, but is bob mentioned?

Not specifically, however the Denver Bob from Wayne Chance's journal certainly raises an eyebrow.

[Brad D]

It would have been cool if the newspaper article about Leland's death had been included (the one Roger Hardy was reading in the diner).

[dugpa]

Was Bob specifically mentioned in the book? I know jacoby talks about possession, but is bob mentioned?

I don't think BOB was mentioned, nor were the Lodges mentioned. Make of it what you will.

BOB is mentioned on page 388.

[Ross]

It would have been cool if the newspaper article about Leland's death had been included (the one Roger Hardy was reading in the diner).

I was thinking (and hoping) this as well!

[Ross]

Was Bob specifically mentioned in the book? I know jacoby talks about possession, but is bob mentioned?

I don't think BOB was mentioned, nor were the Lodges mentioned. Make of it what you will.

BOB is mentioned on page 388.

Oh- thanks!!

[Mr. Reindeer]

Another gaffe in the audiobook: the narrator of Josie's autopsy report claims to be Dan Hayward, but the signature in the book (as well as common sense, re: the timeline) indicate that it should be WILL Hayward.

[ScibenX]

Hi everyone! I'm a long time die-hard Twin Peaks fan and follower of this forum, but first time poster. I loved the new book, and am excited to join the discussion! Considering Mark Frost said that he didn't start writing the book after the new season was already written and going into production, I have faith that all of these inconsistencies and new mysteries are deliberate, and all the answers (we are meant to know) that aren't there for us to find will surely be revealed. Here's a few of my initial thoughts (apologies if these were mentioned earlier).

- Has anyone been able to decipher the backwards-talk after the credits at the end of the audiobook version?

- I think GoodMorningAmerica is definitely on to something with the observation that the consequence of the change in Norma's parentage writes Annie out of existence. I believe Annie is too important to have been forgotten or retconned out, especially if Lynch liked her enough to include in FIre Walk With Me. My hope (as with Michael Ontkean and Kiefer Sutherland) is that they're just saving Heather Graham for one of those extra-special secrets yet to be revealed. Musing on that further...

- Gordon Cole's involvement with Doug Milford calls into question his motives, if not the motives of all of the agents under his command, including TP. At the very least, there's a lot that he chose not to share with Cooper before sending him to Twin Peaks.

- I too think that the lack of mention of Windom Earle by Briggs near the end of the book is suspicious, as is the lack of detail on Earle in general. Didn't Briggs & Earle work together in some capacity in Project Blue Book? In any case, if Briggs is in fact the Archivist, you'd think he'd have more to say on the subject.

[ForKeeps]

And if anyone had a reason to leave Annie out, it'd be Earle...

[StealThisCorn]

It's funny. On page 220, Josie’s autopsy report notes that her body inexplicably weighed at least 25 pounds less than it should. You will remember from the original series that her body was stated to have only weighed 75 pounds at the time of her death. I've joked before about the Great Northern night stand inexplicably being 25 pounds heavier. It really makes me wonder though how Frost could be so accurate on such a silly specific detail like that and yet introduce the continuity errors that have us all a little flustered/perplexed.

I do love the snarky tone Hawk writes with, but I particularly adored this line: “For a while Big Ed kept to himself at the Gas Farm, working his butt off, taking care of his nephew James, and spent what few spare hours he had at the Bookhouse, trying to get James interested in reading. He tried everything, man. Twain, Tarzan, hell, even Doc Savage. Good kid, James. Not a reader.” Hawk knows what’s up. Guess James was always dumb as a sack of bricks.

On page 324, Sarah Palmer’s middle name is listed as “Novack”. Is there a joke about “Novocain” somewhere in there or is it just me?

So, according to Frost, this book was basically his own private dream project and had almost zero input from Lynch. All of this, taken together, makes me wonder what the book’s actual ramifications are for the larger context of Twin Peaks and, specifically, its upcoming third season? Is it just Frost’s way of expanding on the jumbled blend of science-fiction and supernatural mythology haphazardly started in mid to late Season 2, which the series finale and film largely forgot and skipped over in favor of something more inscrutable?

All in all, we at least get some genuinely fascinating expanded backgrounds on characters who remained somewhat mysterious and undeveloped in the original series, including Josie Packard, Dr. Jacoby, Nadine Hurley, the Log Lady and her newly-named husband Sam Lanterman and, of course, Major Briggs himself. And nobody could have predicted that “Dougie Milford”, the hapless victim of Lana’s sexual magnetism, was anywhere near this badass of a historical figure!

[GaryC]

I'd like to address an apparent contradiction brought up that I think has been misinterpreted. In Jacoby's letter from 1989 he says 'I'm going to bury my brother now'. This has been thought to contradict the funeral service date which was 3 years earlier. I'm sure this only means that after the funeral and scattering of ashes near Glastonbury Grove, Jacoby kept some ashes until such time that he visits Hawaii which ends up being 3 years later when he is waiting to find out if he has had his medicine license suspended. What is bizarre is that we are told by the archivist that Robert Jacobi had died in 1969, p.286, which I have tried and failed to rationalise, as either this is true and most of the ending of the book is false where we have multiple sources suggesting Robert is alive, writing articles for the Post, then dying in 1986. Which version is true? The 1969 death may be reported by Archivist 1 and the 1986 death by Archivist 2, with one of both writing it is the 'truth'. The multiple Archivist idea will need further research. Also, they may actually be the same person (possibly Maj. Briggs) but different 'versions'. I' have to presume at this moment that all Archivist notes are written by the same person, purely as they seem to be written by the same typewriter but would be open to the idea of someone else using it to go back and rewrite history for some unknown reason.

I'm still formulating reasons for doing this but wanted to get my thoughts down to try and clarify to myself where I currently am with this fascinating book. I'm off to a Q and A with Frost soon so if anyone has any questions they'd like asking just let me know!

I think it is important we try to distinguish between discrepancies that can possible be explained and those that are genuine, of which there are many. I think at this point I would agree that several documents have been forged. Buick receipt, Mill contract, Postcard. The postcard most of all is too obvious and was meant to start us down this rabbit hole. By the time the picture of the typewriter appears, we are being told blatantly that we need to pay close attention to details. Hence, we see the 1 key yet the Archivist uses the I key throughout the book so we now go back and realise which documents were forged. Remember, we (well, Tamara) are told at the beginning of the book to verify the VALIDITY of this dossier and find out WHO wrote it. As the Archivist identifies themselves at the end, Mark Frost/Gordon Cole does not neccesarily believe this and are asking us to dig a little deeper!


One final thought is about Tamara Preston. What are your opinions of her? Is she inept?

[dronerstone]

Stealthiscorn,
Thanks for the bunch of insights, pretty well written as well!

Fwiw, there's a typical bohemian surname called Novak/Nowak, therefore I suppose it's not a clever pun aimed at Novocain, but dodgy american spelling of a middle-european name (this often happened during migration back in the day) and should be Sarah's maiden name, not just a middle initial. Sarah Novack? Sounds legit.

[dronerstone]

What if it was written by evil Coop to distract and deceive?

[StealThisCorn]

Stealthiscorn,
Thanks for the bunch of insights, pretty well written as well! :)Fwiw, there's a typical bohemian surname called Novak/Nowak, therefore I suppose it's not a clever pun aimed at Novocain, but dodgy american spelling of a middle-european name (this often happened during migration back in the day) and should be Sarah's maiden name, not just a middle initial. Sarah Novack? Sounds legit.

Well thanks for the compliment. Good point about the name Novack! I didn't quite realize the weight of that piece of information. The Novacks and the Palmers then.

Also, maybe it was just me, but, unlike with Scott Frost’s My Life, My Tapes book, I didn’t feel like I could hear Cooper’s voice in my head reading the words written in the section with his case file notes. Perhaps he just doesn’t write the same way he speaks to Diane into his recorder or maybe if I had heard the audiobook version, it would be fine. Or maybe Mark Frost was a little rusty with the character's voice. Or, indeed, maybe it's an impostor or the Bad Dale.

I do have to say, though, on page 289, when we find out that President Richard Nixon, himself, was apparently another famous historical figure to have had possession of the Ring at one time, my eyes sort of rolled into the back of my head a little. It might just be me, but that was starting to seem just a bit silly, when you consider it’s later possession by trailer park prostitute Teresa Banks and lowly shoe salesman Philip Gerard.

[herofix]

By the time the picture of the typewriter appears, we are being told blatantly that we need to pay close attention to details. Hence, we see the 1 key yet the Archivist uses the I key throughout the book so we now go back and realise which documents were forged. Remember, we (well, Tamara) are told at the beginning of the book to verify the VALIDITY of this dossier and find out WHO wrote it. As the Archivist identifies themselves at the end, Mark Frost/Gordon Cole does not neccesarily believe this and are asking us to dig a little deeper!

Top posting!

[LostPhillipJeffries]

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