Carson the Magnificent

In this perceptive and beautiful labor of love, the late writer Zehme (The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin’), writing with Mike Thomas, tackles the enigma that was Johnny Carson (1925–2005) in all of his triumphs, without glossing over the glaring imperfections of a man whom millions watched every night but few truly knew. Zehme’s 1996 Esquire interview with notoriously media-shy Carson precipitated over a decade of follow-up interviews with everyone from Carson’s cue-card boy to his ex-wife and his son. Zehme claims that Carson was born for the television medium, and particularly for The Tonight Show. His humble Nebraska beginnings in radio led to his hitchhiking to Hollywood while waiting for naval officer training; in Los Angeles, he eventually became a well-known quiz show host. The shy, magic-obsessed, cocktail party–hating Carson became the preeminent nighttime host while privately fighting his alleged womanizing ways, tempestuous relationships, alcohol-induced mood swings, and wariness of intimacy.