The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer

The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer

Cover of the Pocket Book edition
Author Jennifer Lynch
Country US
Language English
Genre Novel
Fictional diary
Publisher Pocket Books, a division of Simon and Schuster
Publication date
 15 September 1990
Media type Print
Pages 184
ISBN 99928-828-9-1

The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer is a 1990 spin-off novel from the television series Twin Peaks by Jennifer Lynch. Lynch, then aged 22, is the daughter of series co-creator David Lynch. It was published after the airing of the first season, but before the second.

The novel is said to be "As seen by Jennifer Lynch," and is written in a matter-of-fact tone[1] from the point of view of Laura Palmer, a small-town teenager —a "good girl gone bad"[2]— who is abused and terrorized by the demonic entity BOB.[3] Lynch says she was told by her father and Mark Frost, co-creator of the series, to "be Laura Palmer,"[4] and that she "knew Laura so well it was like automatic writing."[5] The book begins on Laura's 12th birthday in 1984,[2] and steadily matures in writing style and vocabulary.[6] It recounts standard teenage concerns of her first period, her first kiss, and her relationship with her parents, alongside experiences of sexual abuse, promiscuity, cocaine addiction, and her obsession with death.[1][3] Laura's poetry foreshadows her murder.[7] Her slow realisation of BOB's identity is described, although pages are 'missing' from the end of the diary, which ends with an undated entry in late 1989,[2] leaving the reader unable to reach a firm conclusion.[3] Lynch said that "the careful reader will know the clues and who the killer is,"[4] and the killer's identity is confirmed in the second season.[3]

The book reached number four on the New York Times paperback fiction best seller list in October 1990,[8] though some US book stores refused to stock it due to the graphic content.[9] It was published in the UK by Penguin Books in November 1990.[10] Entertainment Weekly said it was "gratifyingly faithful to the spirit of Peaks."[2]

On June 10, 2011, Twin Peaks co-creator Mark Frost announced that a new edition of the diary would be published in the fall of 2011, featuring a new foreword by himself and David Lynch.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jakicic, Cathy (20 October 1990). "Spinoff book tells all, if you're the Log Lady". The Milwaukee Sentinel. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Tucker, Ken (5 October 1990). "The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Lavery, David (1995). Full of secrets: critical approaches to Twin Peaks. Wayne State University Press. p. 7. ISBN 0-8143-2506-8.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hastings, Deborah (16 September 1990). "Book probes mind of Laura Palmer". Associated Press. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  5. ↑ Zekis, Rita (2 October 1990). "Laura Palmer's diarist fulfills fantasy". Toronto Star. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  6. ↑ Zekas, Rita (13 October 1990). "Like father, like daughter". Toronto Star. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  7. ↑ O'Connor, Tom. "Bourgeois Myth Versus Media Poetry in Prime -time: Re-visiting Mark Frost and David Lynch's Twin Peaks". Poetic acts & new media. University Press of America. ISBN 0-7618-3630-6.
  8. ↑ "Paperback best sellers: October 28, 1990". New York Times. 28 October 1990. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  9. ↑ "Anne Frank she ain't". The Milwaukee Journal. 27 September 1990. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  10. ↑ Whitney, Craig R. (8 November 1990). "'Twin Peaks': Splash on Both Sides of Atlantic; In Britain, It's All Just Beginning". New York Times. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  11. ↑ https://twitter.com/#!/mfrost11/status/79223795558260736