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One Obsessive Fan's Journey to Find the Genius Behind the Legend
Penguin
November 2025
On Sale: October 21, 2025
474 pages
ISBN: 0593472551
EAN: 9780593472552
Kindle: B0DTNF3X68
Hardcover / e-Book / audiobook
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A wildly entertaining book by one of the most obsessed and informed fans on the planet of TV icon Johnny Carson, setting the record straight on Carson's legacy and shining light on the personality behind the legendary comedian and talk show host
Over the course of his thirty-year career, Johnny Carson appeared on some 4,500 broadcasts, interviewed over 25,000 guests, and solidified himself as a warm, witty, comforting presence to US audiences during turbulent times.
Carson aficionado Mark Malkoff has amassed more Carson stories from original sources than anyone in entertainment history, speaking to over four hundred individuals, and now, in Love Johnny Carson, he sets the record straight in this comprehensive portrait of Caron's life, career, legacy, and character. Read about the debuts of stand-up comics like David Letterman and Ellen DeGeneres, the never-before-detailed reasons why Johnny stopped talking to Joan Rivers, why he banned guests like William Shatner and Orson Welles, the true origins of Carnac the Magnificent (it wasn’t stolen from Steve Allen), the part Johnny played in getting Nixon elected president, the beloved comedian who the Carson writers dreaded guest hosting, and many other behind-the-scenes stories of the funniest and most beloved Carson moments of all time.
In the end, Malkoff's book serves not only as a biography but also as a love letter; a love letter to show business, to personalities, and to the singular show-business personality of Johnny Carson.
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