I grew up on Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, 3-2-1 Contact and Mister Rogers. I wanted to love “Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street” by Michael Davis.And to give Mr. Davis credit, it is a VERY complete history of Sesame Street. When a book feels like you’ve been reading it for 6 months, and you’ve only been reading it for 2 weeks, I’d say that’s a bad sign.

It really is a shame. Clearly, Davis did his homework. He interviewed countless people. There are some fascinating facts (did you know that the Rowlf – the piano playing dog Muppet – was originally created to sell dog food?) but they are so buried in the reams of text that you could easily miss them.

Jim Henson/Muppets fans may enjoy reading about the partnership that formed between the leaders of Sesame Street at Jim Henson, how it morphed over time and became a blessing and a curse to Henson. From his childhood friend named Kermit up to his struggles whether to sell out to Disney, you get a pretty good overview of his life…

…and what seems like the lives of nearly EVERYone who’s ever been associated with Sesame Street. From writers, actors, producers, puppeteers and stage managers, I think Davis must’ve interviewed hundreds of people.  

I enjoy big books. “The Lord of the Rings“, “A Game of Thrones” and ”The Pillars of the Earth” do not intimidate me even with their 1000+ page heft. So why did “Street Gang” seem like it was 2000 pages long?