Everything Imus: All You Ever Wanted to Know About Don Imus [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Jim Reed (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1999

Shock jock. Curmudgeon. New York's Dirty Little Secret. Morning Mouth. Radio's first bad boy. All of these have been used to describe John Donald Imus Jr.--and all of them are squarely on target. For over twenty-five years, Don Imus has been spewing his own antic brand of venom over the nation's airwaves, at times entertaining nearly fifteen million listeners a week.

Imus's rocky road to glory is recounted for the first time in Everything Imus. Author Jim Reed, who hosts one of the most successful Imus Web sites on the Internet, has crafted a lighthearted but in-depth profile of one of radio's most controversial personalities. Named one of Time magazine's 25 Most Influential People of l997, Imus has had more than his share of career ups and downs. From U.S. Marine to starving musician, Imus made it to the top of the broadcast heap in just four years. Along the way, he battled serious drug and alcohol abuse before becoming America's favorite acid-tongued shock jock.

Everything Imus chronicles Imus's public battles with politicians from both parties, including his skewering of President Clinton at the Washington Radio and Television Correspondent's Dinner in l996--which propelled the Imus show to "must-hear" status.

Everything Imus is certain to attract attention from the I-Man himself in view of his recent formation of a book club similar to Oprah Winfrey's. Unauthorized, hugely entertaining, and often laugh-out-loud funny, Everything Imus is sure to become a hit.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

If it's facts you want about curmudgeonly radio personality Don Imus, this book will suffice--if you don't mind a writing style that's so clunky you can hear it even after you close the cover. Reed may be an Imus fan, but he's no writer. Still, he has assembled his material in an orderly enough manner; he traces Imus' life chronologically, focusing on the radio persona and accentuating the positive, though he can hardly avoid mentioning the star's drinking and drug-taking period and his outrageous speech at a press dinner bashing President Clinton (with Clinton on the dais). Reed also gets into the Howard Stern^-Don Imus rivalry, with Stern, according to Reed, coming out on the short end. This undistinguished biography has its uses, but only if information about Imus is in considerable demand. Ilene Cooper

About the Author

For almost twenty years, Jim Reed has been listening to Don Imus. He watches him regularly on MSNBC from his home in Wichita, Kansas. This is his first book. He cannot promise it will be his last.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 211 pages
• Publisher: Carol Pub Group; illustrated edition edition (June 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559725044
• ISBN-13: 978-1559725040
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,447,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Will The Real Don Imus Please Stand Up, August 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Everything Imus: All You Ever Wanted to Know About Don Imus (Hardcover)

In my humble opinon this book does not even touch the mean streak and obnoxiousness that was Don Imus during the 60's and 70's as a former intern at WNBC there are many things that the author of this book either did not know about the real Don Imus or did know but did not publish it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great, fun & informative read!, June 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Everything Imus: All You Ever Wanted to Know About Don Imus (Hardcover)

As one of the original I-Fans, I am ashamed to say that this book told me things that I should have already known. While I have listened to (and now watch) Don Imus since 1972, Jim Reed, a man irritatingly 15 years my junior, knows so much more about this topic than I do! Using a time-line style of writing, Reed has carefully, though probably unintentionally, exhumed the fact that Imus' best years are clearly behind him. In what I believe to be the first biography of Don Imus, Reed chronicles not only the amazing speed in which Imus rose to fame, but also how rapidly he managed to let his success almost cause his death. Mr. Reed has enabled the reader to watch Imus' career move along without allowing the details get in the way of the enjoyment of reading. Nowhere in "Everything Imus" does Reed allow a chapter to become a roadblock. In fact, I found myself eager to complete each chapter so I could go on to the next and find out where it would take me. Mr. Reed's style of writing is one that more authors should employ as it allowed me to read what essentially is history without it causing me to flash back to my high school years where reading assignments were ordered regardless of whether I had a chance of enjoying these assignments. Unlike a vanity rendition of the history of a celebrity, "Everything Imus" does not glamorize what must have been a very lonely existence for Imus prior to his meeting his current wife. Any "Imus in the Morning" fan who does not add this book to his or her collection of Imus things will be lacking the glue that holds together the many pieces of what is now the Don Imus story. I have read many books and certain authors have become favorites of mine. I am happy to add Jim Reed to my relatively short list of preferred writers. I anxiously look forward to Jim Reed's next book, whatever it may be. I recommend this book to anyone, even if you have never heard of Don Imus. "Everything Imus" is written so well that you will walk away knowing not just "All You Ever Wanted to Know About Don Imus" but far more!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the money, February 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Everything Imus: All You Ever Wanted to Know About Don Imus (Hardcover)

Being an Imus fan I was looking for something a little more substatnial than this. If you're interested in the book, go to the library and check it out. Don't bother buying it,