Review
"Johnny Carson" is not a biography in the traditional sense, but a memoir of attorney Henry Buskin's relationship with Carson over a two-decade period. In this time, Bushkin served as Carson's lawyer and confidante, and this book reveals the entertainer's insecurities and sexual proclivities in great detail. You might read this book and come to the conclusion that two Johnny Carsons existed - the genial public persona people enjoyed nightly on TV, and a more private person who willingly excised people from his life without a backward glance if he felt they wronged him. You might have seen the advanced media stories that reveal the second Mrs. Carson's affair with Frank Gifford. That leads off the book, and it only gets more interesting after that.
Reading this book didn't change my opinion of Carson as an entertainer, but you do understand how he was in private based on his difficult childhood and assumed inability to maintain intimate friendships. This is a short, quick read, and informative if you're interested in how Hollywood contracts really work. If you hold Carson on a pedestal, however, tread lightly.
Reading this book didn't change my opinion of Carson as an entertainer, but you do understand how he was in private based on his difficult childhood and assumed inability to maintain intimate friendships. This is a short, quick read, and informative if you're interested in how Hollywood contracts really work. If you hold Carson on a pedestal, however, tread lightly.
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