ANNOUNCING THE PRINT EDITION OF A SKELETON KEY TO TWIN PEAKS!

When I started creating what this book became, it was a spreadsheet with a bunch of numbers and formulas. I just wanted to understand, technically, how the narrative of Twin Peaks The Return was being told as it was airing weekly in the Summer of 2017.

This book is the end result of years of tinkering and talking and designing all with the purpose of being able to emotionally understand and communicate my feelings about this masterpiece of cinema and storytelling. I want to walk you through what this book is and why I think you will want to have it sitting close by the first time or the next time that you dive into this 18-hour film about a fallen hero trying his best to stand up for one more round.

What Will You Get Out Of Reading This Book?

When you finish this book, I want you to think and speak from a deeper level of emotion and artistic appreciation about this work than you were at before you read it. That’s my purpose in writing this. It’s also become a resource that I use weekly in my writing and podcasting work on Twin Peaks.

What’s In The Book?

Foreword By Scott Ryan, Author & Managing Owner of Fayetteville Mafia Press

Introduction By Jeff Lemire, Author and Artist Whose Graphic Novels Are Enjoyed Around The World

Scene By Scene Breakdowns For All Eighteen Hours Of Twin Peaks The Return

A Skeleton Key contains a unique running iconography that I designed to be a visual assistance language, helping you closely follow and understand the main themes of The Return, how they blend together with a clearly defined narrative to tell the overall fractured story of The Return.

How The Book Works

Scene By Scene, Second By Second Breakdown Of The Story Being Told

Episode By Episode Time and Focus Analytics That Reveal How Much Time Is Being Spent Telling the Accumulated Story Up To Each Episode

Scene By Scene Recaps In The Author’s Voice

Scene By Scene Detailed Analysis Following Each Scene Recap

Complete Cast List For Each Episode

Musical Credits For Each Episode

Dedications For Each Episode

“Press Pause” Critical Essays Written For Key Moments Of Reflection In The Narrative

Personal Photos From The Author’s Private Collection

This photo was taken during a wonderful visit to Mary Reber’s house with a small group of friends. I am so grateful for Mary’s generosity in opening up her lovely home to googly-eyed Twin Peaks fans. Cooper’s Golden Seed was added in post-productio… — This photo was taken during a wonderful visit to Mary Reber’s house with a small group of friends. I am so grateful for Mary’s generosity in opening up her lovely home to googly-eyed Twin Peaks fans. Cooper’s Golden Seed was added in post-production but the dreamy sky has requested the right to call itself real.

These private and personal images were gathered by the author during visits to Snoqualmie Valley where much of Twin Peaks The Return (and the original Pilot) was filmed, a personal meet and greet screening of Fire Walk With Me in 2019 in Columbus, Oh with Sheryl Lee, and the final Twin Peaks UK Festival in London, Fall 2019.

Also Available Through Amazon

The Paperback Print Edition Will Be $75 But The Digital PDF Will Always Be Free!

I know, it’s really expensive. I’m sorry. Being an independent author means you have to stake your own money to print a book. I’ve partnered with Book Baby because they allow me to defer ecommerce, order receptions, printing, fulfillment, and shipping, which means I only have to do all the hard work of writing and designing the books for print. Lucky for me, I love this part of the deal.

This book is for charity, did I say that yet? I’ll be giving away the net proceeds of this book, divided in half after design (my Adobe Creator subscription fees and a few other platform services) and printing costs for the 25+ physical copies I’ll be getting to sign and send to people who collect author’s signatures (I am one of these types who love writers and the books they create. Having an author’s signature is like holding a second of their time on the page forever).

The two charities who will receive these annual donations (amounts to be published annually on this site) will be:

The David Lynch Foundation

I have practiced doing Transcendental Meditation twice daily since November, 2017 which was just two months after The Return ended and I visited Snoqualmie and North Bend for the first time. Something changed in my mind and emotions; something came unblocked for me inside. And I picked up David Lynch’s book Catching The Big Fish just after I returned from that visit out West and it was the right book at the right moment. So, I decided to reach out to find my local TM instructor and start a conversation and I only look back at that decision with gratitude.

I have written about the value of this practice here: “What I’ve Learned From Three Years Of Daily Transcendental Meditation” [MEDIUM]

The David Lynch Foundation is dedicated to providing TM Instruction to our most At-Risk populations in Schools, to Veterans, First Line Responders In Healthcare, To Whole Communities. The Maharishi Effect sees communities amplify their power to support and heal each other the more individuals meditate every day. Benefits include happiness, joy, decrease in crime, and better health. Simply put, meditating daily is a positive investment in the future of our species and this book will directly support that effort in the name of David Lynch, Co-Creator of Twin Peaks.

The KrishnamurtI Foundation Trust

I started reading Jiddu Krishnamurti’s books, viewing and listening to his lectures, and struggling with his core message of a complete revolution inside the individual’s mind and spirit that is not dependent on any system of thought or worship and which takes place completely outside of time as we selfishly perceive it to flow around and between us.

Krishnamurti (K) helped me become an individual, helped me understand what freedom means, what the limits of human intelligence and thinking are, and how Silence is the greatest source of moral wisdom. K helped me understand what love feels like in the living moment, to forgive myself and others for the small traumas, which then lets silence starts working on our bigger ones. I work hard to keep this inspiration flowing into my art and my writing and K’s writing and teaching has been a big part of this for me.

The Krishnamurti Foundation of America is located in Ojai, California and was founded in 1969 by Jiddu Krishnamurti, himself. The mission of the KFA is to preserve and disseminate his teachings, which it does through a variety of different programs. This book will directly support that effort in the name of Mark Frost, Co-Creator of Twin Peaks.

JB Minton