From Powells.com
"Live from New York is described as 'an uncensored history of Saturday Night Live' and that is exactly what you get: no mincing of words, no glancing blows....See the hatred that Jim Belushi still bears for Bob Woodward for writing about his brother. Feel the love that the original cast had for Gilda Radner. Learn about the reverence with which the later members of the cast look up to Lorne Michaels. Experience the one thing that seems to unite the entire cast, old and young, past and present: an overriding hatred of Chevy Chase." Erik Beck, Powells.com (read the entire Powells.com review)
Synopses & Reviews
For the first time ever, with the rare cooperation of reclusive SNL producer and creator Lorne Michaels, Pulitzer-Prize winning television critic Tom Shales and James Miller have interviewed the stars, the writers, the crew, and the special guests who have made Saturday Night Live the greatest long-running comedy of all time. From these backstage stories and uncensored memories, they have woven a brilliant oral history that stands as the definitive account of the show's history. The creative frenzies, the clashing egos, the actors who went on to megastardom in movies and those who just disappeared, the origins of famous routines, the censorship battles, the humor so corrosive that it never got on the air, the love affairs, the drugs, the ferocious feuds, the good hosts and the bad it's all here, much of it for the first time, and all of it from the people who lived through it.
Review
"Constantly entertaining....It's revealing, it's funny, it's mesmerizing." ---Entertainment Weekly
Review
"A guilty pleasure of the highest order....Live From New York shines." ---Lev Grossman, Time
Review
"A sharp-clawed, incisive account of how nearly three decades' worth of comic talent has emerged from a single television show." ---Janet Maslin, New York Times
Review
"Tremendous fun." ---Rob Walker, Newsday
Review
"A patchwork of backbiting, humor, intelligence, backbiting, gossip, backbiting, and backbiting." ---Newsweek
Review
"Refreshing....Shales and Miller paint a detailed landscape portrait of what has become an American cultural icon, one that will guide any attentive reader to a fuller understanding of comedy, TV, and the culture itself." ---Steve Johnson, Chicago Tribune
Synopsis
A star-studded, first-person history of Saturday Night Live that finally reveals what really went on backstage, on the set, in the writer's offices, and on the town.
Synopsis
Just in time for the 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, a rollickingly updated edition of LIVE FROM NEW YORK with nearly 100 new pages covering the past decade.When first published to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, LIVE FROM NEW YORK was immediately proclaimed the best book ever produced on the landmark and legendary late-night show. In their own words, unfiltered and uncensored, a dazzling galaxy of trail-blazing talents recalled three turbulent decades of on-camera antics and off-camera escapades. Now a fourth decade has passed---and bestselling authors James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales have returned to Studio 8H. Over more than 100 pages of new material, they raucously and revealingly take the SNL story up to the present, adding a constellation of iconic new stars, surprises, and controversies.
About the Author
Tom Shales is the Pulitzer Prize-winning TV critic of the
Washington Post. His books include
On the Air and
Legends.
James Andrew Miller has written for The New York Times, Life, and Newsweek and wrote the book Running in Place.