Henry Bushkin

Bushkin's fascinating look at Johnny Carson, his boss for 18 years, is at once fascinating, repelling, hilarious, sad, frustrating, self-serving, and the list can go on. Bushkin writes very well indeed and the first few chapters are utterly fascinating as we go inside the world of the man we all grew up watching on television every night. To see how Bushkin transformed Carson's finances from being taken advantage of by people who called themselves Carson's friends to making Carson the best show more paid person in show business is quite a case study. His analysis of Carson's personality, and its problems--which Bushkin traces back to Carson's uncaring mother, who was never impressed by her son's unparalleled success--is also fascinating, but as the book goes on, it becomes a bit tedious. Luckily Bushkin knows when enough is enough. At 400 or 500 pages, this would have been way too much. In the end, we see that the Johnny Carson we saw on television was a character, a man who had the maturity and stability that the real man often lacked. Still, Bushkin makes clear that despite his problems (mostly related to failed marriages due to his constant philandering), Carson could be charming and funny off screen as well. And he could also be generous to those he considered his friends at the time. Or even have Bushkin send money to his first wife, whom he divorced before he started earning millions of dollars--her settlement was $6,000 per month. This book thrives on anecdotes and glimpses of other stars who were in Carson's orbit. A description of a party with both Sean Connery and Roger Moore attending is very well done.

Of course, this is also a story about Bushkin, a 27 year-old lawyer who suddenly finds himself not just the legal adviser, but the confidante, fixer, tennis partner, and pretty much everything else for the mid-40s Carson. Over time, this makes Bushkin himself rich, while ruining his marriage due to his over-attention to Carson and under-attention to his wife. It is almost a Faustian bargain, but he emerges at least partially un-singed. So, is this book a betrayal or something that Carson would have approved of, as Bushkin asserts at the end? In this case, I'm afraid the author is fooling himself. I think Carson would have been furious--but inwardly, he probably would have understood.

Some of Carson's greatest moments are easily available on YouTube. Think Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and George Gobel. Think shows where Mel Brooks comes on and is so good that none of the other guests make it on stage. No one was better at that than Carson, and probably will never be--or not even have the chance in the fragmented media of today. There were some moments of magic, and although I don't want to count my birthdays anymore, I'm happy to be old enough to have enjoyed Carson in his prime. I'm happy to have read Bushkin's book also. It isn't surprising to see that celebrities may have personality quirks and deep issues. But perhaps it is always a bit surprising to see that when they are on camera they can leave it all behind, if only for 90 (or later 60) minutes. show less

This is a fascinating book about a sad American icon. Bushkin’s voice is clear and believable. A lesson in greed, the power of instinct and the price of fame could not be better told.

A fairly negative view of Carson and a overwhelmingly positive view of Bushkin in this Hollywood biography. This was a good book overall however a little too detailed with names of Hollywood (i.e., suits) nobodies unless you happened to have worked there in the 70s and 80s. I am a fan of Carson's work and this book was interesting as long as it focused on him. The narrator was decent and at times unintentionally funny because he would often start off a sentence fine only to trail off into a show more Katherine Hepburn flourish. The beginning of the book gave me the impression that Buskin was writing a Raymond Chandler novel, which perked me up. Then it went back to the droll chronological narration of legal issues and personalities. I really liked the pace of the audio-book and would recommend that format here rather than not wasting valuable time reading the print version. My own flawed judgement is that this book written by an accomplished lawyer would not be challenging to the seasoned reader of memoirs or of Hollywood behind the scenes takes which are always in demand. Ed McMahon's memoir "Here's Johnny" is a much more positive rendering about Carson than this book. Carson ends his life as a sad lonely man despite his enormous financial and show business success.
Bushkin, Jewish, was a personal attorney for many years to Carson. show less

A well-written book seen through the lenses of someone who was 1) close to Johnny Carson and 2) had an ax to grind. Money or no money, I wouldn't want either of their lives.