In his long career, magazine writer and biographer Bill Zehme had one white whale: the enigmatic TV giant Johnny Carson, whom Zehme called "The Great American Sphinx." In 2002, 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, who had been a diehard Carson fan since childhood, was tapped for the Esquire feature story thanks to his years of legendary celebrity profiles that included several high-profile show hosts-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. In CARSON THE MAGNIFICENT (Simon & Schuster; hardcover; on sale 11/05/2024), 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. On a much more intimate level, Zehme also chronicles the turmoil and anguish that accompanied the success: four marriages plagued by infidelity and turmoil, troubles with alcohol that spurred physical and psychological cruelties, an emotional guardedness that was rooted in the criticisms of his hard-to-please mother, the struggles to connect with his children, and the devastation he felt at the loss of his middle son, Ricky, who died at age 39 when his car plunged off an embankment along the California coast. 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, told in parts with Zehme's trademark stylistic flourishes and astute insights. Zehme had an uncanny ability to capture his subject's essence, no matter how elusive or famous they were. This book, arguably the apex of his esteemed career, is the shining example of what Zehme did best, and readers will come away with a richer understanding of an American icon.


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