Carson the Magnificent

“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

Bill Zehme was the author of the New York Times bestseller The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin’ and Lost in the Funhouse: The Life and Mind of Andy Kaufman. He coauthored memoirs by Jay Leno and Regis Philbin, served as a longtime writer at large for Esquire, and contributed to other publications including Rolling Stone, Playboy, and Vanity Fair. A native and lifelong resident of Chicago, he died in 2023.

Mike Thomas is the author of two critically acclaimed books, The Second City Unscripted: Revolution and Revelation at the World-Famous Comedy Theater and You Might Remember Me: The Life and Times of Phil Hartman. He spent more than fourteen years as an arts and entertainment features writer at the Chicago Sun-Times and is a regular contributor to Chicago magazine. He lives in Chicago with his family.