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Table of Contents
About The Book
A much-anticipated biography—twenty years in the making—of the entertainer who redefined late-night television and reshaped American culture.
In 2002, Bill Zehme landed one of the most coveted assignments for a magazine writer: an interview with Johnny Carson—the only one he’d granted since retiring from hosting The Tonight Show a decade earlier. Zehme was tapped for the Esquire feature story thanks to his years of legendary celebrity profiles, and the resulting piece portrayed Carson as more human being than showbiz legend. Shortly after Carson’s death in 2005 and urged on by many of those closest to Carson, Zehme signed a contract to do an expansive biography. He toiled on the book for nearly a decade—interviewing dozens of Carson’s colleagues and friends and filling up a storage locker with his voluminous research—before a cancer diagnosis and ongoing treatments halted his progress. When he died in 2023 his obituaries mentioned the Carson book, with New York Times comedy critic Jason Zinoman calling it “one of the great unfinished biographies.”
Yet the hundreds of pages Zehme managed to complete are astounding both for the caliber of their writing and how they illuminate one of the most inscrutable figures in entertainment history: A man who brought so much joy and laughter to so many millions but was himself exceedingly shy and private. Zehme traces Carson’s rise from a magic-obsessed Nebraska boy to a Navy ensign in World War II to a burgeoning radio and TV personality to, eventually, host of The Tonight Show—which he transformed, along with the entirety of American popular culture, over the next three decades. Without Carson, there would be no late-night television as we know it. On a much more intimate level, Zehme also captures the turmoil and anguish that accompanied the success: four marriages, troubles with alcohol, and the devastating loss of a child.
In one passage, Zehme notes that when asked by an interviewer in the mid-80s for the secret to his success, Carson replied simply, “Be yourself and tell the truth.” Completed with help from journalist and Zehme’s former research assistant Mike Thomas, Carson the Magnificent offers just that: an honest assessment of who Johnny Carson really was.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster (December 18, 2024)
- Length: 336 pages
- ISBN13: 9781451645279
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Raves and Reviews
“Terrific.” —Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune
“Shimmers with nuance and wonder.” —Booklist (starred review)
"Perceptive and beautiful.” —Library Journal (starred review)
"Splendid...nuanced....Carson’s fans will appreciate the glimpse behind the curtain." —Publishers Weekly
“An immensely informative and insightful account of the personal and professional life of this heretofore inscrutable entertainment icon...Full of compelling vignettes.” —Glenn C. Altschuler, Minnesota Star Tribune
“Like so many biographers before him, Zehme at times felt as if he was at risk of being buried alive by the research, a journalistic hoarder haunted by the question: What if I’m missing something? His spirit can rest easy. Carson the Magnificent delivers the man in full while keeping the mystery of what made him tick alive.” —James Wolcott, Washington Post
“A memorial of the monoculture…Carson the Magnificent harks back to an era when doom and scroll were biblical nouns and Carson’s Tonight Show was a clear punctuation mark to every 24-hour chunk of the workweek.” —Alexandra Jacobs, New York Times Book Review
“An entertaining look at not only a unique figure in 20th-century popular culture but also a bygone era in American television.” —Kirkus Reviews
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- Book Cover Image (jpg): Carson the Magnificent Hardcover 9781451645279