Letterman: The Last Giant of Late Night

by Jason Zinoman

Overview

New York Times comedy critic Jason Zinoman delivers the definitive story of the life and artistic legacy of David Letterman, the greatest television talk show host of all time and the signature comedic voice of a generation.

In a career spanning more than thirty years, David Letterman redefined the modern talk show with an ironic comic style that transcended traditional television. While he remains one of the most famous stars in America, he is a remote, even reclusive, figure whose career is widely misunderstood. In Letterman, Jason Zinoman, the first comedy critic in the history of the New York Times, mixes groundbreaking reporting with unprecedented access and probing critical analysis to explain the unique entertainer’s titanic legacy. Moving from his early days in Indiana to his retirement, Zinoman goes behind the scenes of Letterman’s television career to illuminate the origins of his revolutionary comedy, its overlooked influences, and how his work intersects with and reveals his famously eccentric personality.

Zinoman argues that Letterman had three great artistic periods, each distinct and part of his evolution. As he examines key broadcasting moments—"Stupid Pet Tricks" and other captivating segments that defined Late Night with David Letterman—he illuminates Letterman’s relationship to his writers, and in particular, the show’s co-creator, Merrill Markoe, with whom Letterman shared a long professional and personal connection.

To understand popular culture today, it’s necessary to understand David Letterman. With this revealing biography, Zinoman offers a perceptive analysis of the man and the artist whose ironic voice and caustic meta-humor was critical to an entire generation of comedians and viewers—and whose singular style ushered in new tropes that have become clichés in comedy today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062377227
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/27/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	241,355
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Jason Zinoman writes the On Comedy column for the New York Times. He has also contributed to Vanity Fair, the Guardian, and Slate, and is the author of Shock Value and Searching for Dave Chappelle. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Part I Education of a Talk-Show Host, 1947-1979

1 Shock Jock 3

2 When David Met Merrill 23

Part II The Anti-Talk Show, 1980-1984

3 The Art of Stupid 49

4 Not Tonight 69

5 The Harvard Takeover 95

Part III The Archangel of Irony, 1984-1987

6 The Founding Fathers of Late Night 117

7 The Writer Under the Stairs 133

8 The Letterman Generation 147

9 The Two Daves 165

Part IV Writer's Block, 1988-1993

10 Comedy Is Not Pretty! 187

11 Meg and Mom 207

Part V The Very Big Show, 1993-2015

12 The Agony of Victory 233

13 The Oscar Myth 249

14 Hinky 271

15 More Fun Than Humans Should Be Allowed to Have 295

Acknowledgments 303

Notes 305

Index 329

Editorial Reviews

I devoured this book. Not only a rare and richly detailed account of the life of one of my comedy heroes, but I loved that you can feel Zinoman’s curiosity about, and admiration for, Dave’s singular sensibility on every page.” — Billy Eichner

“[Zinoman] writes…with great knowledge, high standards, and deep empathy. This is not only a revealing portrait of one of comedy’s most challenging and enigmatic figures but an acute and insightful look at how...the mind of one restless, uncomfortable, elusive man can transform both comedy and late-night television.” — Mark Harris, author of Pictures at a Revolution and Five Came Back

“[Zinoman]...turns his rare combination of show-leather reporting, lively storytelling, and interpretive brilliance to an epochal moment in American entertainment, and, of course, to the giant, gloriously complicated, quintessentially American celebrity at its center: a man we know both intimately and not at all–at least until now.” — Brett Martin, author of Difficult Men

“Of all the performers who have put their imprints on late-night television, David Letterman may have done the most cleverly disruptive job. If you want to fully understand the Letterman DNA–and Dave’s own quixotic legacy–[Zinoman] has delivered a smart and funny analysis that is your best opportunity yet.” — James Andrew Miller, author of Powerhouse

“This incisive, illuminating book shows the personal toll that success took on all responsible, the price paid for laughs.” — Kirkus

“… [A] book that does impressive triple duty as an acute portrait of stardom, an insightful chronicle of three rambunctious decades of pop-culture evolution, and a very brainy fan’s notes… [Zinnoman is] especially sharp and engaging when he’s breaking down Letterman’s trademark predilections .” — New York Times Book Review

“… [P]robably the finest profile ever written of a TV comic, which is praise not meant to be faint… You’ll be entertained, enlightened… and even alarmed… If you even just liked Dave, and especially if you loved him, you’ll get plenty of bang for your book bucks.” — Daily Beast

“Well researched, incorporating a nice mixture of interviews–with Jay Leno, Merrill Markoe, Chris Elliott, and Martin Short, among many others–and previously published material, the book is the Letterman biography fans have been waiting for.” — Booklist

From the Publisher

[Zinoman]...turns his rare combination of show-leather reporting, lively storytelling, and interpretive brilliance to an epochal moment in American entertainment, and, of course, to the giant, gloriously complicated, quintessentially American celebrity at its center: a man we know both intimately and not at all–at least until now.

Brett Martin

Well researched, incorporating a nice mixture of interviews–with Jay Leno, Merrill Markoe, Chris Elliott, and Martin Short, among many others–and previously published material, the book is the Letterman biography fans have been waiting for.

Booklist

…a book that does impressive triple duty as an acute portrait of stardom, an insightful chronicle of three rambunctious decades of pop-culture evolution, and a very brainy fan's notes…[Zinoman's] too lively a writer to get bogged down in show-offy theorizing. His big-picture commentary is so compressed and fluid that you often scarcely notice how casually he's able to switch from micro to macro and back inside a single paragraph. As celebrity biographers go, he's humane but not easily fooled…As a critic, he's especially sharp and engaging when he's breaking down Letterman's trademark predilections, from the goofball love of peculiar locutions and nonsensically stressed clichés that evoked a sort of demented neo-Americana to how unerringly "his comedic instinct was to mock and belittle whatever world he inhabited."

The New York Times Book Review - Tom Carson

03/13/2017
Zinoman, the comedy critic for the New York Times, expertly toggles between keen analysis and dogged reporting in escorting readers down David Letterman’s lengthy path to greatness. Letterman’s retirement in 2015 devastated the comedy world. Jimmy Kimmel called the late-night talk show host “my Jesus” and Jon Stewart deemed him “an epiphany.” The author breaks down the counterculture humor that made the landmark Late Night with David Letterman special, and he examines how success corroded the rapport between the neurotic star and his collaborators, including Merrill Markoe, his creative muse and longtime (and long-suffering) girlfriend. Comedy aficionados will savor the numerous behind-the-scene stories and tales of how Letterman evolved from an acquired taste to a mainstream star. After he became CBS’s face of late-night TV in 1993, Letterman spent less time skewering talk-show conventions and became broad and splashy. But Letterman also showed more of himself, using his show to vent his confusion over the 9/11 terrorist attacks, confess his adultery, and embrace fatherhood. Zinoman’s ambitious work succeeds in capturing Letterman’s cultural impact while unearthing the human being behind the frequently inscrutable television icon. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Of all the performers who have put their imprints on late-night television, David Letterman may have done the most cleverly disruptive job. If you want to fully understand the Letterman DNA–and Dave’s own quixotic legacy–[Zinoman] has delivered a smart and funny analysis that is your best opportunity yet.

James Andrew Miller

… [P]robably the finest profile ever written of a TV comic, which is praise not meant to be faint… You’ll be entertained, enlightened… and even alarmed… If you even just liked Dave, and especially if you loved him, you’ll get plenty of bang for your book bucks.

Daily Beast

I devoured this book. Not only a rare and richly detailed account of the life of one of my comedy heroes, but I loved that you can feel Zinoman’s curiosity about, and admiration for, Dave’s singular sensibility on every page.

Billy Eichner

[Zinoman] writes…with great knowledge, high standards, and deep empathy. This is not only a revealing portrait of one of comedy’s most challenging and enigmatic figures but an acute and insightful look at how...the mind of one restless, uncomfortable, elusive man can transform both comedy and late-night television.

Mark Harris

… [A] book that does impressive triple duty as an acute portrait of stardom, an insightful chronicle of three rambunctious decades of pop-culture evolution, and a very brainy fan’s notes… [Zinnoman is] especially sharp and engaging when he’s breaking down Letterman’s trademark predilections .

New York Times Book Review

Well researched, incorporating a nice mixture of interviews–with Jay Leno, Merrill Markoe, Chris Elliott, and Martin Short, among many others–and previously published material, the book is the Letterman biography fans have been waiting for.

Booklist

04/01/2017
New York Times comedy critic Zinoman (Shock Value) dissects comedian David Letterman and his legendary television run, taking readers from Letterman's Muncie, IN, college radio days through his seminal work at NBC to his star-studded retirement show decades later on CBS. Here Letterman is presented as an iconoclast who grew from mocking talk show clichés to representing the format as an elder statesman. Along the way we meet the writers and cast members who shaped the show, explore the origins of signature Letterman segments (the Top Ten List, Stupid Pet Tricks, etc.), and meet the man behind it all. While recognizing Letterman's groundbreaking work, Zinoman avoids hero worship. Letterman is on full display, directly quoted, flaws and all. Scholars of TV history will also appreciate how Letterman drew from predecessors such as Jack Paar and Steven Allen, and later influenced Jon Stewart and others. Behind-the-scenes drama provides an additional draw for those who remember the jockeying between Letterman and Jay Leno for Tonight Show host Johnny Carson's seat. VERDICT Top-notch research bolstered by one-on-one interviews make this a must-read for Letterman fans.—Terry Bosky, Madison, WI

Library Journal

As is the case with many good nonfiction audiobooks, Michael Goldstrom’s narration of LETTERMAN is straightforward and well paced—engaging listeners but keeping the focus on the subject matter. Goldstrom deftly guides us through this detailed account of Letterman’s career as well as the professional paths of the writers, producers, and other collaborators who helped make his shows so successful. Letterman’s ironic detachment is frequently cited as the keystone of his comedy, and Goldstrom channels this with hints of sarcasm throughout. When quoting various “Late Night” and “Late Show” bits from the past three decades, Goldstrom adds enough flourish that listeners can visualize Letterman himself delivering the material. By the end of this audiobook, listeners will also be intimately familiar with the evolution of late-night comedy since the 1960s. A.T.N. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2017 - AudioFile

★ 2017-02-13
The tale of a tormented TV star and his legacy.This is a critical biography, not in the sense of being negative (although there are parts that Letterman won't like, since he doesn't seem to like much), but as a work of criticism that focuses on the inner workings of a TV career rather than any life away from show business. "Years before the term ‘Generation X' moved into circulation, David Letterman made ironic detachment seem like the most sensible way to approach the world," writes New York Times comedy critic Zinoman (Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror, 2011) in this sharp, revealing biography. Such an attitude would establish him as a generational spokesman during an era of political apathy. Yet Letterman was more obsessed than detached, a "spectacularly committed hypochondriac," a self-lacerating critic of his own show, and a performer who had to be pushed out of his comfort zone for his paradigm-shifting innovations. Though he played his eccentricities and insecurities for laughs, they were no laughing matter for the staff that was crucial in the development of his comedic dynamic, the writers who so often found themselves isolated (or occasionally berated) by the boss they were trying so desperately to please. The most significant of these collaborators was Merrill Markoe, his partner and foil from his early stint on daytime TV, who, "as much as anyone…helped invent the aesthetic of David Letterman." Most of the rest were men, frequently from Harvard, and the boys' club atmosphere became more of a problem as Letterman's sexual relations with female interns became public. Zinoman's analysis is often refreshingly counterintuitive: Letterman was a good interviewer. He recast and renewed himself during the writers' strike. He didn't fail as Oscar host. He was even more miserable as the winner of the late-night ratings war than he had been as the underdog. This incisive, illuminating book shows the personal toll that success took on all responsible, the price paid for laughs.

Kirkus Reviews