ShareThisBlogger Natasha Vargas-Cooper, 26, has been hooked on "Mad Men" since Season One.
Her new book, "Mad Men Unbuttoned: A Romp Through 1960s America" (Collins Design, $16.99), uses the show to collect and chronicle symbols of the 1960s, from bras to beer, ads for shaving cream and what the author called "a huge cultural shift that no one could prepare for."
Her impression of the show? It's a "confection."
"It's beautiful; it hypnotized me from the beginning because I love the whole mood of the show," Vargas-Cooper said. "That feeling of anxiety and cool deception. That's what hooked me."
While she and others her age can't relate to the "Mad Men" era as her parents can, blogging about the show is definitely a 20-something occupation. After her blog debuted a year ago, Collins Design (a division of HarperCollins Publishers) contacted her "out of the blue" and asked if she wanted to turn her postings into a book.
If you're a fan of "Mad Men" -- or even the 1960s -- the book's essays, use of photographs and historical nuggets put you in the moment.
So, with her passion for the show, which just started its fourth season on AMC, how does Vargas-Cooper feel about dapper Don and beleaguered Betty?
"Don Draper is the center of the show," Vargas-Cooper said. "For me, he's the gravitational pull, like Tony Soprano. He's a cheater and a liar. But the way he deals with women, including his mistresses, and co-workers is fascinating to me."
And Betty?
"At first I didn't like her. She's such an ice queen," Vargas-Cooper said. "Like a villain, it seemed she stopped Don from having a good time.
"But I've become a convert. She's not a proto-feminist, but Betty is increasingly sympathetic. She's still a brat. She wants security, someone to talk to and someone else to raise her kids."
No "Mad Men" diva would be devout without a proper wardrobe.
"I love the fashions on the show, and they've inspired me. Even the underwear, while rigid, is very shapely and feminine," Vargas-Cooper said. "I can only wear things that fit and are timeless, nothing too trendy.
"The writing on the show is wonderful, and it's captured the imagination of cultural producers, writers, artists, designers and now bloggers."
As the show returns, her blog -- www.madmenunbuttoned.com -- is in full blog mode. Sundays are intense because that's when the show airs.
Mondays are for clearing the "Mad Men" smoke.
(E-mail Leigh Grogan at lgrogan(at)sacbee.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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