Buried treasures.

Six Feet Under: Better Living Through Death

* Edited by Alan Ball and Alan Poul * Melcher Media/Pocket Books * $30

Fans of Six Feet Under will no doubt go positively gaga for die new companion book, Six Feet Under: Better Living Through Death, which offers an avalanche of tasty morsels for fans of the show. The acclaimed gay-inclusive HBO series features some of television's best writing, and in compiling a list of fictional treasures referred to or written by the show's characters, Better Living lives up to that reputation.

Always wanted to read an excerpt from Nathaniel and Isabel, the creepy kids' book that's been a lifelong obsession of Brenda and Billy Chenowith? It's in here. So is a chapter from Charlotte Light and Dark, a post-Little Darlings fan letter to Matt Dillon from a pubescent David Fisher, a letter home from Nate's high school guidance counselor, and much more. The standout of the book is probably a four-page taste of Brenda's novel, in which she describes her menage a trois with two surfers, which happened offstage on the show. Written by veteran Six Feet scribe Jill Soloway, the short passage perfectly captures Brenda's voice and gives a little behind-the-curtain peek at the inner lives of the show's many fascinating characters.

Actually, that's pretty much what the whole book does. Which makes it invaluable for hard-core followers of the goings-on at Fisher & Diaz.