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The Ultimate Soap Opera Book Master List


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I've been trying to compile a list of all of the books written about radio & television soap operas, but I figured the community as a whole could fill-in gaps where they exist. I'm including scrapbooks, autobiographies, show specific books, and general histories/studies on the genre. For the sake of ease, I've listed autobiographies & show specific books under the shows to which they mainly pertain (i.e. All Her Children is listed under All My Children).

 

General:

No End to Her: Soap Opera and the Female Subject by Martha Nochimson 

Worlds Without End: The Art and History of the Soap Opera by Ron Simon

The Soaps: Daytime Serials of Radio and TV by Madeline Edmonson and David Rounds

The Great Radio Soap Operas  by Jim Cox

Frank and Anne Hummert’s Radio Factory by Jim Cox

Soap Opera History by Mary Ann Copeland

The Daytime Serials of Television 1946-1960T by Jim Cox

The Soap Opera Encyclopedia by Gerard J. Waggett

 

By soap:

 

ALL MY CHILDREN

All Her Children by Dan Wakefield

All My Children: Complete Family Scrapbook by Gary Warner

My Life to Live by Agnes Nixon

The Confessions of Phoebe Tyler by Ruth Warrick

All My Life by Susan Lucci

 

AS THE WORLD TURNS

As the World Turns: The Complete Family Scrapbook (Special 40th Anniversary Edition) by Julie Poll

 

ANOTHER WORLD

Eight Years in Another World by Harding Lemay

Another World 35th Anniversary: The 35th Anniversary Celebration by Julie Poll

 

THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL

The Young and Restless Life of William J. Bell by Michael Maloney

The Bold and the Beautiful: A Tenth Anniversary Celebration by Robert Waldron 

 

DAYS OF OUR LIVES

Days of Our Lives by Margaret Russell

Days of Our Lives: 50 Years by Greg Meng

Days of Our Lives: The Complete Family Album: A 30th Anniversary Celebration by Lorraine Zenka

 

GENERAL HOSPITAL

General Hospital: The Complete Scrapbook by Gary Warner

 

GUIDING LIGHT

Guiding Light: The Complete Family Album  by Julie Poll

Guiding Light: A 50th Anniversary Celebration by Christopher Schemering

 

ONE LIFE TO LIVE

My Life to Live by Agnes Nixon

One Life to Live: Thirty Years of Memories by Gary Warner

Llanview in the Afternoon: An Oral History of One Life to Live by Jeff Giles

 

SEARCH FOR TOMORROW

Both of Me by Mary Stuart

 

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

The Young and Restless Life of William J. Bell by Michael Maloney

I’ll Be Damned: How My Young and Restless Life Led Me to America’s #1 Daytime Drama by Eric Braeden

Not Young, Still Restless by Jeanne Cooper

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Yes. Her "novels" are Secrets of a Soap Opera Diva and The Young and the Ruthless: Back in the Bubbles.

 

Eileen Davidson also wrote three mystery novels: Death in Daytime, Dial Emmy for Murder, Diva Las Vegas.

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General

 

Writing for Soaps by Jean Rouverol (former writer of GL, SFT, and ATWT)

Writing for Soaps by Chris Curry (former writer of UK soaps, Albion Market & Brookside)

Writing Soap by Chris Thompson (writer from Emmerdale)

 

The Archers

 

The Archers Archives by Chris Arnot & Simon Frith

 

Coronation Street

 

Coronation Street: Around the Houses by Daran Little (writer of Corrie, AMC, HollyOaks EastEnders)

Coronation St.: The War Years: The Complete, Enthralling Saga of Coronation Street During World War II by Daran Little

 

 

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Comic Fiction:

Soapsuds by Finola Hughes and Digby Diehl

 

Mystery:

Bloody Soaps by Jacqueline Babbin

All My Suspects by Louise Shaffer

The Soap Opera Slaughters* by Marvin Kaye

 

*The only one of the four I've read (years ago, so my memories are rusty). Kaye apparently based his fictional soap, "Riverdale," on Ryan's Hope. The most sympathetic suspect plays a Delia type (there's even mention of her being skilled with stocks). The show's patriarch is a hybrid of Bernie Barrow and Macdonald Carey (Kaye was a Days fan). The show's matriarch is very clearly Helen Gallagher, with maybe more than a little Mary Stuart.

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Sorry if any are repeats...

Soap Opera Digest Scrapbook...John Kelly Genovese  1983

TV Soap Opera Almanac   Ron Lackman   1976

Daytime TV's Star Directory    Paul Denis Sterling Press   1976

Daytime TV   Jason Bonderoff    1976

Soap Opera History   Mary Ann Copeland    Soap Opera History    1991

The Soap Opera   Muriel Cantor and Suzanne Pringee     1983

From Mary Noble to Mary Hartman: The Complete Soap Opera Book  Madeline Edmondson and David Rounds   1976

Taking Soaps Seriously: The World of Guiding Light   Michael James Intintoli  1984

Super Soaps   Jane Kutler and Patricia Kearney   1977

From Ma Perkins to Mary Hartman   Robert LaGuardia   1977

The Official Soap Opera Annual...Bryna Laub   1977

The Loves of Their Lives  Lynne Rogers  1979

The Year in Soaps  Rod Townley   1984

Soap Opera Book: Who's Who in Daytime Drama   Nancy E. Rout, Barney M. Rout and Ellen Buckley

The Ultimate Soap Opera Guide  Seli Groves

Tune in Yesterday  John Dunning  1976

Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio  John Dunning   1998

Inside the Soaps    Paul Denis   1985

Soaps: A Pictorial History of America's Daytime Dramas  Seli Groves   1984

The Soap Opera Book   Manuela Soares 1979

Soap World  Robert LaGuardia  

Soap Stars   Dianna Whitley and Ray Manzella 1985

Illustrated Soap Opera Companion   Richard Meyers   1977

Dallas The Complete Story of the World's Favorite Prime Time Soap   Barbara A. Curran   2004    

Soap Opera Book of Lists   Gerard J Waggett    1996

The Ultimate Days of Our Lives Trivia Book   GW   1999

The Official All My Children Trivia Book   GW 1998

The Ultimate Another World Trivia Book   GW   1999

The Ultimate Young and the Restless  Trivia Book GW 2000

The Soap Opera Puzzle Book   GW   1997

Guiding Light  A 50th Anniversary Special   Christopher Schemering   1986

Dallas: The Complete Ewing Family Saga, Including Southfork Ranch, Ewing Oil, and the Barnes-Ewing Feud 1860-1985  Laura Van Wormer    1985

Days of Our Lives: A Complete History of the Long-Running Soap Opers  Maureen Russell  1995

 

 

 

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What's scary is how many I own. 

 

"Daytime Divas: The Dish on Dozens of Daytime TV's Great Ladies" (published in 2000 apparently, but it looks very mid-90's) 

 

"Soap Opera: A Novel" by Eileen Fulton. A fictional novel by ATWT's Lisa. 

 

Guiding Light: 

"I'm Just Sayin'!: Three Deaths, Seven Husbands, and a Clone! My Life as a Daytime Diva" by Kim Zimmer 

 

 

 

 

That's a good one. I remember finding it on the shelves in 2000 and feeling like I had found the soap opera holy grail. A great read, published in 1997, with Port Charles as the genre's fresh newbie. As a numbers nerd, I loved the Nielsen ratings listings by year as well. 

 

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