A revealing and incisive account of the King of Late Night at the height of his fame and power by his lawyer wingman fixer and closest confidantFrom until Johnny Carson hosted The Tonight Show and permeated the American consciousness In the xs and xs he was the countryxs highest-paid entertainer and its most enigmatic He was notoriously inscrutable as mercurial and sometimes cruel off-camera as he was charming and hilarious onstage During the apex of his reign Carsonxs longtime lawyer and best friend was Henry Bushkin who now shows us Johnny Carson with a breathtaking clarity and depth that nobody else couldFrom the moment in when Carson hired Bushkin who was just twenty-seven until the moment eighteen years later when they parted ways the author witnessed and often took part in a string of escapades that still retain their power to surprise and fascinate us One of Bushkinxs first assignments was helping Carson break into a posh Manhattan apartment to gather evidence of his wifexs infidelity More than once Bushkin helped his client avoid entanglements with the mob Of course Carsonxs adventures werenxt all so sordid He hosted Ronald Reaganxs inaugural concert as a favor to the new president and he prevented a drunken Dean Martin from appearing onstage that evening Carson socialized with Frank Sinatra Jack Lemmon Jimmy Stewart Kirk Douglas and dozens of other boldface names who populate this atmospheric and propulsive chronicle of the King of Late Night and his worldBut this memoir isnxt just dishy It 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 loathed small talk even as he excelled at it why he couldnxt visit his son in the hospital and wouldnxt attend his motherxs funeral and much more Bushkinxs account is by turns shocking poignant and uproariousxwritten with a novelistxs eye for detail a screenwriterxs ear for dialogue and a knack for comic timing that Carson himself would relish Johnny Carson unveils not only the hidden Carson but also the raucous star-studded world he ruled.
