Johnny carson biography review

Curious how many biographies of Johnny Carson preceded this one, I did a little research and learned that it’s probably more than 130 — including one by Carson’s career-long sidekick, Ed McMahon.

I’ve read none of them, but it’s hard to imagine any would or even could compete with Carson the Magnificent.

This book is an elegant account of the unparalleled late-night-TV host, including this description of how he spent nearly 30 years putting America to bed:

“His was the last face flickering onto the brain before so many billions of slumbers.

Quite literally, he launched the dreams of generations, as no golden Hollywood dream merchant might have fathomed, even in metaphor.”

While it’s clear that Carson was author Bill Zehme’s hero — Zehme was such an admirer that he chose the name “Monologue” for a column he wrote in his high-school newspaper — the book doesn’t sidestep t