Dear Great Book Guru,  Last week I went to Fred Stroppel's  "Season's Readings-A Twisted Shorts  Christmas" at the Creative Arts Studio here in Sea Cliff.  It was a rollicking great time - and apparently there will be an encore presentation this Friday, December 15. Fred, Liz and the Sebetic, Reres, Marchese, Dawson , Plano  troupe are an unbelievably talented group.  During the intermission, many in the audience could be heard discussing the upcoming finale of "Homeland" the controversial series on  the CIA, counter terrorism,  and the Middle East.  There seems to be an increasing number of these well written, thought- provoking series on TV.  Has there been anything written about this phenomenon?                                        Book Reader and TV Watcher

Dear Reader-Watcher,  I too loved Fred's ""Season's Readings" and plan on seeing it again this weekend. Most of the material appears in his "Christmas Cocktails" which is available on Amazon Kindle- a great last minute holiday gift for the discerning readers on your list…  I have another great book for you: THE  REVOLUTION WAS TELEVISED: The Cops,  Crooks, Slingers and Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever by Alan Sepinwall.  Sepinwall's premise is that over the last decade a cadre of writers and producers have used the medium of TV to change people's perception of entertainment- iconoclastc,  morally ambiguous, cynical, literate, always intellectually challenging.  He analyzes in depth twelve  series including "The Sopranos", "24", "The Wire", "Oz", "Deadwood",  "Mad Men", "Breaking Bad", "Battleship Galactica" and "Lost," showing how each broke with tradition and mirrored/precipitated changes in our nation's culture.  Truly fascinating!