Letterman

The definitive book on the life and artistic legacy of David Letterman, the greatest television talk show host of all time form New York Times comedy critic Jason Zinoman. When David Letterman retired last year, he left behind a mighty legacy that includes the creation of two different late night franchises, an iron man longevity of over 33 years eclipsing every late night talk show host in history (including legends like Johnny Carson and Ed Sullivan), many singular broadcasting moments that defined the modern talk show and an ironic comic style that transcended television and made him the signature voice of a generation. Since the television landscape has fractured into niches with shrinking audiences for all talk shows, Letterman is likely the last giant of late night 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 his titanic legacy. Rooted in a biographical portrait that spans from his early days in Indiana to his retirement, the book goes behind the scenes of his television career to illuminate the origins of his revolutionary comedy, its overlooked authors and how his work intersects and reveals his famously eccentric personality. While zeroing in on key broadcasting moments such as Letterman's trailblazing man-on-the-street remotes, the top ten list and his emotional meditation on a broken New York right after September 11, the book argues that Letterman had three great artistic periods, each distinct and part of his evolution as an artist. Unlike almost every other analysis of late night television, Zinoman doesn't merely focus on the host and explains in detail how collaborators and the process of the show were essential to his art. One of the central arcs of the book is Letterman's relationship to his writers, and in particular, the co-creator of Late Night with David Letterman, Merrill Markoe, whose decade-long romance with Letterman is one of the backbones of the book. The ironic style and caustic meta-humor that Letterman pioneered has become such a regular part of our cultural diet that we have forgotten that much of that voice came from one man talking every night to mostly young Americans well after midnight. Letterman was critical to an entire generation of comedians and audience, and his singular style ushered in new tropes that have become clichs in modern comedy. To understand popular culture today, it's necessary to understand David Letterman. This is the book that will help you do that.