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Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Twilight Zone: A Fifth-Dimension Guide to Life Hardcover – Feb. 28 2017

by Mark Dawidziak (Author)

4.6 160 ratings

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Can you live your life by what The Twilight Zone has to teach you? Yes, and maybe you should. The proof is in this lighthearted collection of life lessons, ground rules, inspirational thoughts, and stirring reminders found in Rod Serling’s timeless fantasy series. Written by veteran TV critic, Mark Dawidziak, this unauthorized tribute is a celebration of the classic anthology show, but also, on another level, a kind of fifth-dimension self-help book, with each lesson supported by the morality tales told by Serling and his writers.

The notion that “it’s never too late to reinvent yourself” soars through “The Last Flight,’’ in which a World War I flier who goes forward in time and gets the chance to trade cowardice for heroism. A visit from an angel blares out the wisdom of “follow your passion” in “A Passage for Trumpet.” The meaning of “divided we fall” is driven home with dramatic results when neighbors suspect neighbors of being invading aliens in “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.” The old maxim about never judging a book by its cover is given a tasty twist when an alien tome is translated in “To Serve Man.”

Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Thomas Dunne Books
Publication date

Feb. 28 2017
Dimensions

16.31 x 3.15 x 24.61 cm
ISBN-10

1250082374
ISBN-13

978-1250082374
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Review

"For 'The Twilight Zone' fans, 'Everything I Need to Know' is an absolute treasure trove of bite-sized analyses of favorite episodes and situations." - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

About the Author

Mark Dawidziak is the author or editor of about 25 books, including three studies of landmark television series: The Columbo Phile: A Casebook, The Night Stalker Companion and Everything I Need to Know I Learned in The Twilight Zone, his lighthearted 2017 tribute to Rod Serling’s classic anthology series. He also is an internationally recognized Mark Twain scholar, and five of his books are about the iconic American writer. He spent 43 years as a television, film and theater critic at such newspapers as the Akron Beacon Journal and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. His work on the horror side of the street also includes the novel Grave Secrets, The Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Dracula, short stories, and comic book scripts. He lives in Ohio.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas Dunne Books (Feb. 28 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250082374
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250082374
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 546 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16.31 x 3.15 x 24.61 cm

Best Sellers Rank: #1,116,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #99,764 in Self-Help (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 160 ratings

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Mark Dawidziak

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Mark Dawidziak's many books include fiction and non-fiction, works in the horror field and on Mark Twain, volumes of theater and television history. A theater, film and television reviewer for more than 35 years, he has been the TV critic at the Cleveland Plain Dealer since 1999. Also an actor and director, he often plays Mark Twain and Charles Dickens in productions staged by the Largely Literary Theater Company, the touring troupe he founded in 2002 with his wife, actress Sara Showman. An adjunct professor at Kent State University, he teaches two classes each semester: Reviewing Film and Television and Vampires on Film and Television.

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Tyler Keay

Fun read

Reviewed in Canada on May 2, 2023

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Really enjoyed this book. How a great writer can make an iconic show and weave lessons we can apply to everyday life.

Helpful

DOlaya

Very fast, better than image, hope to do business again, highly recommended AAA++

Reviewed in Canada on December 3, 2019

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Very fast, better than image, hope to do business again, highly recommended AAA++

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Timothy Gouldson

Rod Serling Would Be Proud

Reviewed in Canada on June 2, 2018

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Great guide to life book.

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James

Sometimes learnin' is fun.

Reviewed in Canada on May 11, 2017

Angels and devils, monsters and aliens, ghosts and, sometimes, just plain old humans doing things the rest of them wouldn't. All so that we can learn a pithy lesson.

Along with biographical information about Serling, author Mark Dawidziak groups original series episodes by the "lessons" taught, on per chapter. Fifty-one, by his count. Throw in a famous person's personal reminiscence, at the end of each chapter, and the author's own experiences interviewing various people who participated in the series, and you have a lot of interesting insights into the series and Serling, himself.

Interesting and enjoyable, to read. Almost certainly sure to tell you things you didn't know about the man and the series, and to cause you to see some episodes a little differently, next time you view them. And almost certain to make that next viewing come a little bit sooner.

I definitely recommend this to any fans of the original Twilight Zone.

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John K. Kirk

Appreciating the Twilight Zone

Reviewed in Canada on February 28, 2017

An absolute delight of a book to read. While it can be seen as a testament to the writer's fandom, it's also a celebratory way of looking at life through the lens of this iconic television show as it relates to life lessons. It's light-hearted and a fun way to appreciate The Twilight Zone. Beginning with a preface by the daughter of Rod Serling, the additional commentaries by other celebrities and notable personalities make this book an enjoyable read.

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Walter Luciano

Have you entered the twilight zone and not know it

Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2023

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You will fine this funny. A friend of mine who I worked with in law enforcement started a conversation with me about the twilight zone tv series from the 1960s. We are both retired from the job and talk weekly by phone cause we live in two different parts of NYC. I told him that up until May of this year I never knew how interesting the twilight zone series was. See as a child my mother told us that this series is for adults not little kids and we would not fully understand the series until we were older.
After watching the episodes my friend recommended I found this book and started reading it which led me to purchasing the original series brand new at a very reasonable price.
Getting this book breaks life into 50 lessons and each lesson has an episode or two or more relating to the lesson. After having this delightful book and talking with my friend again he was surprised and he also has this book. Our discussions have become more interesting and insightful.
So my friends ifvyou like the original series please get this book and make the comparisons like the book has. You will be amazed and entertained. Thank you fir your time

2 people found this helpful

Alex Equiguas

Excelente

Reviewed in Mexico on April 23, 2020

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Excelente

KarToon12

A self help book brought to you by the fifth dimension

Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2017

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I'm fairly certain there isn't a person alive who hasn't seen or at least heard of The Twilight Zone. The wonderfully written anthology series has become so engrained in the pop culture conciousness, that it stands the test of time, even after having had first aired over 50 years ago. Arguably, the biggest reason for the show's longevity isn't just in the acting or clever writing, but the dozens of morals it had to teach (whether us hooked viewers even realized it or not). And upon discovering a novel that set out to list and categorize all of the many lessons it tried to teach, I eagerly dove in, and came away with a new appreciation for the show's genius storytelling, and just how many of its spooky aesops still apply to today's world.

Right from the get go, it's made clear that this isn't an episode guide or some comprehensive tell-all book about the making of the show (for that, see "The Twilight Zone Companion"). Because of this, the only tiny critisizm I can give is that you sort of need to have a fairly strong knowledge of the show and most of the episodes to fully appreciate it. This was written by fans, for fans, and what it does instead is evaluate a large chunk of the episodes and picks them apart--uncovering a plethora of symbolism, morals, and meanings behind the fantasy elements, and tying them all together into an organized, easy to swallow list of 50 lessons that everyone should take to heart.

Some are obvious, like "don't cry wolf", "don't judge a book by its cover", and "don't be greedy". Others are a bit more far-reaching, like "it's never too late to reinvent yourself", and "recognize the angels around you". Each lesson has an episode example to go with it. And while some lessons have multiple episodes to credit, other episodes have multiple lessons within them. Seeing the show annalized and compared in such a way then made me realize just the full scale of how much goodness was packed into every half hour--some morals of which I never even thought about or came to the conclusion of until they were pointed out. And while we all like to think that the world's changed since the 60s (and in many ways, it has), there's plenty more that, for better or worse, has stayed the same.

In short, this book is a must read for any fan of The Twilight Zone, both hard core and casual, and serves as a great sister piece to "The Twilight Zone Companion". And while said novel may have examined the show's mind and body, this one seeks to celebrate its soul, and the hearts it hoped to enlighten and change. A bit of a stretch to say? Maybe. But it highlights the show's biggest lesson of all--anything is possible with a little imagination.

17 people found this helpful

Bruce Richard Marshall

Glad I waited for the Revised Edition!

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2021

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Mark Dawidziak has produced one of the most satisfying books on THE TWILIGHT ZONE I have ever read.
He rightly treats the series for what It was at its core: a series of morality plays, parables, and prophecies.
By focusing on this aspect , he adds something fresh and valuable to the vast literature about the classic series!
Dawidziak employs a literary device that I usually disapprove of; copious quotations from famous authors and other notables. However, in his hands, the device works beautifully. This is because his choice of cited authors is so appropriate and wide ranging. The frequent allusions to Mark Twain are especially satisfying- not surprising as the author is a Twain expert.
One final note on the Revised edition.
It's really worth getting for the.new material on the rebooted TZ series of the Eighties and the current version.
I was thrilled to see his commentary on the Jordan Peele produced show. It inspired me to seek out his film work as a director.

3 people found this helpful

Nancy Adair

It's True, Twilight Zone Taught Me How To Live

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2017

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When I read a review of Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Twilight Zone: A Fifth Dimension Guide to Life in the local paper I couldn't believe I had missed this book. Here was a book that spoke to what I had long believed: that Rod Serling had taught me my basic values.

I was seven years old in 1959 when Twilight Zone first aired. It became my 'must see' tv show. Over the years I enjoyed the reruns but it was while my son and I watched hours of marathon reruns that I realized that perhaps more than any book or Sunday school class it was Rod Serling who had instructed me in how to live.

Rod Serling
As a kid, I liked the ironic endings, the comeuppances, and just desserts. I thrilled to the eerie and chilled to the scary. The episode that most scared me was The Invaders, told without dialog, about a witchlike old woman whose primitive cabin is invaded by tiny spacemen. They were more frightening because of their diminutive size, for they could creep up unseen. Then came the reveal--the spaceship was from the United States, the menacing spacemen were human and the woman was the alien.

The Invaders
After reading the preview available online I ordered Mark Dawidziak's book and began reading it upon arrival.

Born in a Reform Jewish family in Binghamton, NY, Serling had an ideal childhood but encountered prejudice as he grew up. In 1943 he enlisted and served in the Pacific front as a paratrooper, the roots of his horror of war and hope for humanity. He entered Antioch College, founded by Horace Mann who wrote, "Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity." After graduation, Serling lived in Cincinnati where he wrote for the radio station, then for television. As he matured, his writing incorporated social commentary, convicted it was "the writer's role to menace the public's conscience."

The Twilight Zone stories are teaching parables. As Anne Serling writes in her forward, her father "truly and deeply cared about all of us." If we have ears to hear, Dawidziak shows us, there are fifty lessons to be gleaned from these stories.

Some of my favorite examples from the book, whose lessons need to be heard again, include:

Divided We Fall, highlighting Serling's script The Monsters are Due on Maple Street. It warns us about mob mentality, fear of people who are 'different', and shows how evil arises from suspicion and division. Many chapters end with a guest lesson; for this chapterMarc Scott Zicree writes, "we can live in a universe of love and compassion, or chaos and destruction. The choice is ours, made every day, every moment, by the actions we conscious or unconsciously take...and you can file that under L for Life Lessons."

Share With Others, gleaned from I Shot An Arrow into the Air, written by Serling. A spaceship crashes into a desert, leaving the astronauts with limited supplies. One man decides he will not share, he will survive at any cost. As the last man alive he learns they had landed on Earth, with civilization just over the hill. Adversity brings out the monster and the best of humanity. Dawidziak connects this lesson to the Flint water crisis and the challenge of providing clean water to everyone in need across the world.

Imagine a Better World, arising from Richard Matheson's script A World Of His Own, a comedic story of a man who can manipulate reality through a dictation machine. Dawidziak notes that the power of imagination is basic to the series, and this episode is a nod to storytellers and dreamers who unlock doors to possibilities.

Fill Your Life With Something Other Than Hate is a reoccurring theme in Twilight Zone, including one of my personal favorites, Two, written by Montgomery Pittman. In a post-war, empty world, one lone female and one lone man survive; they are from opposing armies, distrustful and full of hate. The episode is without dialog, for the two do not share a common language. They have a choice: to carry on the war or to assume their common humanity and lay down arms. He also lists Two under Everybody Needs Somebody Sometime.

Payback is a...Or, What Goes Around Comes Around, is another theme shared by many episodes. This was a favorite saying of a neighbor many years ago, meant as consolation while rejected by a petty community. Serling hated fascism; in his script Deaths-head Revisited, a Nazi visiting Dachau enjoys memories of his time there--until he is put on trial by the ghosts of the dead.

Serling ends the show saying, "All the Dachaus must remain standing. The Dachaus, the Belsens, the Buchenwalds, the Auschwitzs, all of them. They must remain standing because they are a monument to a moment in time when some men decided to turn the Earth into a graveyard. Into it they shoveled all of their reason, their logic, their knowledge, but worst of all, their conscience. And the moment we forget this, the moment we cease to be haunted by its remembrance, then we become the gravediggers."

My heart ached reading this, for I fear we are forgetting.

Don't Be A Bully also is a message found in over a half dozen episodes, wish fulfillment stories where bullies get their just desserts. The Guest Lesson is from Scott Skelton who wrote, "As I got older...the series' strong ethical undercurrents surfaced in my consciousness: its indignant stance on social injustice, its rage at the too often petty nature of our species--prejudice, mob rule, the ever-present threat of fascism, the shadow of superstition and ignorance that has, throughout history, halted the progress of our species. From these bite-sized morality plays I drew an unshakable belief in the basic dignity of man--that despite our individual mistakes, our foibles, our follies, and our general bad behavior, we all have a right to respect, to a collective esteem based on the actions and sacrifices of a few of our more noble representatives."

The Civilization That Does Not Value the Printed Word and the Individual is Not Civilized. The Obsolete Man by Serling has a librarian as the hero, a man who clings to his outlawed, obsolete, books, standing up to totalitarian authorities by announcing, "I am nothing more than a reminder to you that you cannot destroy truth by burning pages." Serling's closing narrative states, "Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of man, that state is obsolete."

These don't even include some of my favorite episodes, including Time Enough at Last (Nobody Said Life Was Fair/Be Careful What You Wish For); those with Jack Klugman, including A Passage for Trumpet, the lesson being Follow Your Passion); Kick the Can (You're Only Truly Old When You Decide You're Old); and Nothing in the Dark (Death, Where is Thy Sting). Nothing in the Dark has Robert Redford as a gentle and kind Mr. Death, an image that stuck with me.

I could go on, but instead, I will advise you to just read the book.

Thank you, Mr. Serling. And Thank you, Mr. Dawidziak, for confirming that I learned my values in The Twilight Zone.

16 people found this helpful

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