Woke Up This Morning: The Definitive Oral History of The Sopranos

Written by Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Who made the phone call that got HBO to launch the show? What’s the significance of all those eggs? And, what the hell ever happened to the Russian? In Woke Up This Morning, Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa have all the answers – and they’re revealing where all the bodies are buried. 

Inspired by the incredibly successful Talking Sopranos podcast, The Sopranos stars Michael Imperioli (Christopher Moltisanti) and Steve Schirripa (Bobby Baccalieri) finally reveal all the Soprano family secrets in a surprising, funny, and honest new book. Woke Up This Morning is the definitive behind-the-scenes history of the groundbreaking HBO series that became a worldwide cultural phenomenon, ushered in a new Golden Age of Television, and to this day continues to be one of the most binged shows of all time.

Michael and Steve tell all the incredible stories that The Sopranos fans have been waiting to hear for over twenty years. The book covers the entire history of The Sopranos series from the original concept pitch and casting to the infamous cut to black – and answer many of the thousands of fan questions sent to the podcast, as well as dispel some widely propagated myths and reveal things no one outside the show would even know to ask.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Release date: Nov 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9780008513450

Michael Imperioli

Michael Imperioli is best known for his starring role as Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos, which earned him an Outstanding Supporting Actor Emmy Award. He also wrote five episodes of the show and was co-screenwriter of the film Summer of Sam, directed by Spike Lee. Imperioli is also the author of the critically acclaimed novel The Perfume Burned His Eyes, and the short story ‘YASIRI’ in the anthology The Nicotine Chronicles, edited by Lee Child.

Reviews for Woke Up This Morning

[mpho3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A fantastic companion to and look back at the series. I loved that the book isn't simply an analysis or recap of all the episodes, though apparently most of the content is from the podcast "Talking Sopranos." I don't listen to podcasts, so I am thrilled to be able to access all this rich content. I am also pleasantly surprised and impressed by Michael Imperioli's thoughtful insights, many of which were written for book and were not taken from the podcast. As it turns out, Imperioli is a wonderful writer.Imperioli and Schirripa cast a wide and far net of people involved with the show, and I learned a lot about the craftsmanship (acting, directing, writing, stunts) behind the show, what it's like to be an actor, and what is was like to be a part of such a huge phenomenon. While it's breezy enough that it could be read very quickly, I couldn't get more through more than a page or two without being completely wowed by some little factoid about the show or about the business or about someone's personal history before joining The Sopranos. I often had to turn to Youtube to find a replay a scene or listen to a piece of music connected to the series. I'm not very interested in celebrities, per se, but it was really quite moving to learn about some people's trajectories before and after the show, who did or didn't get hired, how things changed as the series became a smash. Incredibly satisfying and must more so than Many Saints of Newark.