Johnny Carson

"A close look at how show business power corrupts . . . The dishiest read of the year." – Janet Maslin, "Ten Favorite Books of the Year," New York Times "Here’s Johnny!" Probably everyone in America knows the phrase, whether they watched every episode of The Tonight Show or none because they had to go to bed early on school nights. From 1962 to 1992, Johnny Carson and his Tonight Show dominated the American consciousness.

Henry Bushkin was Carson’s best friend and lawyer during that period, and his behind-the-scenes memoir is a tautly rendered and remarkably nuanced portrait of Carson, revealing not only how he truly was, but why. Bushkin explains why Carson, a voracious (and very talented) womanizer, felt he always had to be married; why he couldn’t visit his son in the hospital and wouldn’t attend his mother’s funeral; and much more. This Johnny Carson biography is by turns shocking, poignant, and uproarious — written with a novelist’s eye for detail, a screenwriter’s ear for dialogue, and a knack for comic timing that Carson himself would relish.

"A fascinating book about a complex man." — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Like The Tonight Show, the book has many a merry moment . . . [Johnny Carson] was also one of a kind, and is missed. This book brings a bit of him back." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A People magazine Top Ten Book of the Year

This intimate biography goes beyond the television icon to reveal the complex man behind the desk.

• An Insider’s Account: Told by Carson’s longtime lawyer and best friend, Henry Bushkin, who saw the private moments the cameras never did.
• The King of Late Night: Go behind the scenes of The Tonight Show and discover the ambition and insecurity that drove its legendary host for thirty years.
• A Complicated Legacy: A shocking and poignant exploration of Carson’s personal demons, from his voracious womanizing to his refusal to visit his son in the hospital.
• Hollywood Power: Witness how incredible fame corrupts, and the price Carson—and those around him—paid for his throne in a golden era of television.

“Henry Bushkin’s ‘Johnny Carson’ is that rare celebrity tell-all by an author who knows whom and what he’s talking about.” – The New York Times “Few books like ‘Johnny Carson’ have been more engrossing. It's not just a juicy peek inside a celebrity's life...Bushkin's memoir is also a well-written corporate tale that reveals the tough business of staying America's favorite late-night host, full of stories of money, sex and skullduggery, peppered with plenty of laughs.” – The Associated Press “This is not a tawdry tell-all but rather, an insightful and sobering character study of a tortured man and failed husband and father, as told through the eyes and experiences of one of his closest confidantes.” – Huffington Post “[a] gracefully written, often insightful memoir” – The Daily Beast "Twenty years since retiring and eight since his death, Carson remains the god of late night and the dean of American comedy." – New York Magazine, Fall Preview "Most readers will be captivated by this high-definition, off-camera, extreme close-up view of the enigmatic entertainer." – Kirkus "The book bears effective witness to a swinging era when celebrities were 'entertainers,' the highball glass was never empty, there were only three channels on TV, and Carson was its king.”– Bloomberg Businessweek "Show-business junkies old enough to have spent many of their late nights between 1962 and 1992 watching Johnny Carson, 'the King of Late Night,' will likely devour this long-anticipated memoir in one gulp...The portrait of Carson offered here, though, goes way beyond dish: it is a genuinely multifaceted look at the burdens and the excesses of celebrity. Equally fascinating, though, is Bushkin’s own story." - Booklist "An insightful glimpse into the world of The Tonight Show and the star-studded life of Carson. An addictive read." - Publishers Weekly