"You need to have a lot of things go right in your life before you can become as miserable as Anthony Bourdain," writes noted journalist and biographer Charles Leerhsen in his headline-making new book, Down and Out in Paradise: The Life of Anthony Bourdain, hailed by Dwight Garner of The New York Times as "an unvarnished account of a turbulent life."

The "unvarnishing" of our legendarily turbulent public figures is one of Leerhsen's things, apparently, as readers have discovered in his books on Ty Cobb, Butch Cassidy, and the celebrated racehorse Dan Patch—a determination to get the story right that was instilled in him as a writer and editor at Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, and People.

As a ghostwriter, Leerhsen brought that same determination into his work with pioneering aviator Chuck Yeager (Press On!), entertainment mogul Brandon Tartikoff (The Last Great Ride), and a belligerent New York City real estate developer named Donald Trump (Trump: Surviving at the Top), a collaboration our guest would come to regret for the way it helped to establish the Trump persona.

Learn more about Charles Leerhsen by visiting his official website and following him on Twitter.

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