"For millions of fans around the world, Joss Whedon is known as the cult creator of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', 'Angel', and 'Firefly', television designed to be, as he says, 'an emotional experience, to be loved in a way that other shows can't be loved'. Whedon's works, the 'Whedonverses', have generated astonishing critical and scholarly interest, but nothing has hitherto investigated in depth their source: the mind of Joss Whedon. An intellectual biography written by world expert on the Whedonverse David Lavery, this book tracks Whedon's multi-faceted magic from the source -- early influences of parents and teachers, comics, books, films, television, collaborators -- to artistic incarnation, including Whedon's 'Dollhouse'. Whedon's imaginative output is not limited to the small screen, of course. He's written film scripts and music, comic books and essays; he's contributed to other people's TV shows, and made a movie, all in less than twenty years of creative work. Lavery explores all these, as well as Joss in his many guises: as fan boy, script doctor, librettist, writer, actor, TV auteur, and aspiring movie director"--Provided by publisher.