King of the Night: The Life of Johnny Carson

More than seven hundred interviews with ex-wives, friends, and business associates provide a wealth of details about late-night television talk show host Johnny Carson, detailing his rise from obscurity to national fame Read more From Publishers Weekly The King of the Night--the entertainer adored by millions of devotees of The Tonight Show --is Killjoy of the Day, according to Leamer ( As Time Goes By , etc.) who in this lively unauthorized biography depicts "the most uptight, nervous guy you'll ever want to meet." Almost every aspect of John William Carson's life is shown to be different from the way it publicly appears to be: "the great host" is a reclusive man who rarely invites anyone to his home; "the loving husband" seeks solace outside his marriage; "the caring father" lacks rapport with his three sons.

He is the sun and everything rotates around him, yet when the camera is off, "Johnny seems diminished, washed out."