Carson the Magnificent Audiobook By Bill Zehme, Mike Thomas cover art

Carson the Magnificent

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Carson the Magnificent

By: Bill Zehme, Mike Thomas
Narrated by: Johnny Heller
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.49

Buy for $19.49

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

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.

©2024 Bill Zehme (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio
Entertainment & Celebrities Funny Comedy
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Carson the Magnificent

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    15
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    17
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    8
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    15
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Magnificent

I love Johnny Carson! I grew up with him. This book lets me know him better. Thanks.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

the completeness

Loved the frankness and honesty. Details of why there will never be another Kohnny Carson

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Nothing new regarding “Here’s Johnny”!

Really nothing new under the sun when it comes to this book. There’s been multiple books written about the life of Johnny Carson and the Tonight Show. This book in particular provide a lot of insight to many of the periodical and newspaper articles filled with factoids about Johnny and the Tonight Show. Henry Bushkin book was probably better than this one. That was the last one that I read and probably will stick to that book as the main stay of anything about Johnny. This was a very fair book and nothing more than that. Nothing new to define “Here’s Johnny”

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An inside look at a man we all thought we knew

For those of us who grew up with The Johnny Carson Show (we NEVER called it the Tonight Show) this is a great look at the man we thought we knew. But, Johnny made everyone feel like they knew him—that was a special talent.

When this is in its 100th printing decades from now, there still won’t have been another like him.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Narration

Did not like the narrators voice. I should always preview the narration first as that can make a difference with enjoyment of an audible book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A money grab?

Fans of comedy and/or Carson may enjoy the book despite its weakness. The book seems a strong of entries that would be at home in an article rather than a cohesive book with something to say. Little to nothing new about Carson -and very little insight that flows from one or another piece of research or thought. There is reason why the author did not publish it when alive -and unfortunately those who took over on the project did not do enough. Money grab might be a bit strong, but this disappointing book struck me as not far off that.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Hate the voice of that reader.

This book was somewhat disappointing. Did not break much new ground. At times it was like a compilation of previous articles.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Meh

Basically an extended Vanity Fair piece. Interesting but superficial. Little help in what made Carson tick, his approach to comedy, or why he was such an important cultural figure.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Heeeeeeere’a Johnny!

What a talent. In some ways, a sad career with some lonely times for Johnny. Can you imagine if the Carson talent machine never came to The Tonight Show? Carson the Magnificent made me a bigger fan of the late night King.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not Much Here

I found this to be fairly superficial and removed - and a lot of it is drawn from other sources; bios, magazine articles, etc. I got a lot more out of "Johnny Carson" by Henry Bushkin, which is a much more in depth, warts and all portrait of a very complicated dude. Bushkin was his long time lawyer, fixer and friend, and brings your right into Carson's personal life and world.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!