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Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests Paperback – October 6, 2015
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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 decades have 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.
- Print length800 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBack Bay Books
- Publication dateOctober 6, 2015
- Dimensions5.5 x 1.38 x 8.25 inches
- ISBN-10031629506X
- ISBN-13978-0316295062
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"A guilty pleasure of the highest order....Live From New York shines." ---Lev Grossman, Time
"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
"Tremendous fun." ---Rob Walker, Newsday
"A patchwork of backbiting, humor, intelligence, backbiting, gossip, backbiting, and backbiting." ---Newsweek
"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
About the Author
Tom Shales is America's foremost television critic, having won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1988. For twenty-five years, he was film critic for National Public Radio.
Product details
- Publisher : Back Bay Books; Expanded,Updated edition (October 6, 2015)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 800 pages
- ISBN-10 : 031629506X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0316295062
- Item Weight : 1.61 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 1.38 x 8.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #52,996 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #10 in TV History & Criticism
- #28 in TV Shows
- #31 in Comedy (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
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www.jamesandrewmiller.com
JAMES ANDREW MILLER is an award-winning journalist and co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN; Live from New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests, which spent four months on the New York Times bestseller list; and Running in Place: Inside the Senate, also a bestseller. He has written for The Washington Post, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and many other publications. He is a graduate of Occidental College, Oxford University, and Harvard Business School, all with honors.
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I should point out that I am not a huge SNL fan, I liked some of their work and see the show once in awhile. I grew up in the 70's and 80's and can remember when the show first came on the air and how amazing and groundbreaking it was. I was born in 1968, so was still young at the time, but grew-up with Saturday Night Live as a staple part of my Saturday Nights (or Sunday Mornings once Tivo came along) and now just watch the clips on Hulu.
Though I am not a big SNL Fan, and consider myself just a casual viewer, I think this book was one of the most interesting entertainment books I have read in a long time.
If you are a fan of SNL you will LOVE this book as it takes you behind the scenes, into the lives of the people involved and lets you experience what was going on during the years this show was growing up and becoming what it is today. If you are a huge fan of SNL, you probably have already read this book so I probably should ignore you for now.
If you are interested in entertainment or the television industry you will find this book to be really interesting as they take you behind the scenes of one of the most groundbreaking shows in the history of late night television, and let you peak at the personalities and egos that were there making this happen. The stories that are told get into a lot of details behind the scenes of the show and talk about the founding and growth of SNL and the many players throughout the years that had a hand in making the show so much a part of our entertainment culture.
If you just like to read stories about people and their lives (biography or diary), you will find this book to be really fun to read. It is in effect a bunch of verbatim's from people that were involved in the making of SNL over the years. You can feel the emotions and relationships that existed and the stress and frustrations that came with the territory of producing a live television show.
Regardless of who you are, I strongly recommend this book for anyone that is interested in modern culture and/or history, but doesn't want to be bored with another politics book or story about the Kardashians.
Check it out, it is fun and interesting at the same time.
Top reviews from other countries

It starts with a bit of background before launching into the origins of the series. It's constructed in an unusual way - a short passage introduces a series of comments from those involved at the time. Naturally this means that we start off with explanations from the likes of Chevy Chase and Lorne Michaels before going through the Eddie Murphy years, the Chis Farley years and all the way to the latter days of Tina Fey. I'll be honest - only the SNL stars up until about 1990 were initially of interest. Yet with patience even the later years become interesting.
What really sets this book apart from its contemporaries and why I would consider it essential reading is its brutal honesty. Very few classic stars come out of it beloved by everyone and it's a good reminder of the feet of clay that invariably support these stars. That said, some people come out of the history with real dignity. Here is a quick key to a few on both sides of the scale.
CHEVY CHASE - Well, much as I love Mr. Chase's dry wit and much as I adore the film 'Fletch', the universal feeling is that he is a massive jerk. At one point he even admits it himself!
JANE CURTIN - I was very impressed by her. While her surrounding cast were throwing themselves into drugs and needless flings with each other, Curtin did her job and didn't get sucked in. In a very boisterous, competitive environment with people like John Belushi bouncing off the walls, she refused to bend to peer pressure. There's even a wonderful moment when Lorne Michaels had tried to agitate her and it was all water off a duck's back to her. Massive kudos to you, Jane.
CHRIS FARLEY - I was never a fan of his over-the-top man-baby antics though seeing his effect on others is interesting. It's also poignant reading his desperation to be 'the funny guy' all of the time. Steve Martin comments on how exhausting it was trying to have a normal conversation with him.
PHIL HARTMAN - Universally loved and multi-talented, his tragic death really does seem to have rocked the cast. Again, down-to-earth and confident enough in his own abilities not to get caught up in the nonsense.
It is a very long read which might put the casual reader off as may the structure of it. Nevertheless, it is packed with information and interviews; highly recommended for those of us raised in the 80s when nearly all of the performers hear became big stars of cinema.

Whilst I'm nowhere near through it yet, there are nights when I simply can't put it down due to the unbelievably raw and un-edited stories from some of my favourite comedians from the mid-1970s to 2000s.
A great read for anyone of a certain age and also if you like any of the John Landis-era movies from Animal House right the way through to Beverly Hills Cop 3, and want to find out more about why certain actors did or didn't get parts!


