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Tom Shales

James Andrew Miller

Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests Paperback – October 6, 2015

by Tom Shales (Author), James Andrew Miller (Author)

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James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales's definitive oral history of Saturday Night Live, hailed as "incredible" (Vulture) and "required reading" (People).

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 length

800 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Back Bay Books
Publication date

October 6, 2015
Dimensions

5.5 x 1.38 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

031629506X
ISBN-13

978-0316295062
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Constantly entertaining....It's revealing, it's funny, it's mesmerizing." ---Entertainment Weekly

"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

James Andrew Miller has worked in virtually all aspects of journalism -- as well as on the entertainment side of television production and development -- for more than twenty years. Along with Tom Shales, he is the author of the #1 bestseller Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN.

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:
1,194 ratings

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Tom Shales
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James Andrew Miller
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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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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

1,194 global ratings

5 star		74%
4 star		18%
3 star		6%
2 star		1%
1 star		2%

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David Deibel

Excellent, but long, read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 23, 2022

Verified Purchase

I’ve been watching the show since 75 and really enjoyed the book. Watching the show morph from its drug induced haze into a school for new comic actors was fascinating. This is a book of excerpts from interviews the authors did with people who appeared and worked on the show with some, very little, narrative. Probably could’ve used some editing towards the middle as the excerpts were a bit repetitive. It ends after the 2014 season. If you’re an SNL fan, you should read it.

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Not what I'd expected but absolutely a good read.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 11, 2023

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I didn't know that the book was in essence, just a compendium of interviews with cast members, writers and guests. Still, it was fascinating to see who thought what about whom and when and why some folks just didn't make the cut.

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Jimmy Larrison

Loved This Book - Like Sitting Around the Fireplace...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 27, 2011

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I loved this book! It was like sitting around the fireplace listening to old war stories from your grandpa and his buddies as they remembered all the things they did. The stories you hear are not just the front-line of the war and the gunshots, but the planning, day to day operations, and the relationships that were built over the years. Of course war stories are much more real and can be scary, but these stories that are shared in this book are compelling, interesting and personal. When you read this book you can hear the voices talking.

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.

6 people found this helpful

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E. Kutinsky

Not ready for prime time

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 17, 2010

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Live From New York is compiled by James A. Miller and Tom Shales in such a giddily readable manner, you're as hooked by it as one of those VH1 Specials looking back at the history of a cultural movement. Conceived as a one-quote-after-another recollection from each significant period of Saturday Night Live's long history (leading up to the book's writing in 2003), Live From New York fascinates you with the revelation of one personality after another - it's safe to say that even in the celebrities you thought you knew well, these interviews and stories evoke something surprising about each of them, and manage to highlight the rather wonderful pretentiousness by which SNL was bourne. Conceived by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol as a chance to showcase edgy, youthful comedy that skewered the world around it, Live From New York shows that SNL's goal of biting the hands that feed it remains gleefully a part of the show's DNA in spite of how commercial periods of its run have been. So with that, Live From New York has the power to be comprehensive and merciless - its 1981-1985 Dick Ebersol years show Ebersol's surprising tenderness and respect while mocking his inability to determine if anything's funny. On the flip side, the book may wind up souring fond thoughts you had of Chevy Chase's various appearances over the years. I found myself deeply drawn into one era after another of SNL while reading this book, yet despite the years flying by over hundreds of pages, something unfortunate happens to the book as it gets "current" - it turns out it's not so current. Though this is mostly the result of the time the book was written, the Will Ferrell/Molly Shannon/Cheri Oteri cast doesn't really have a lot to offer in terms of perspective, and thinking that this was the "end" of a show that has risen back to its peak rather undersells the show's great longevity. The actors in this section talk as though champions doing a victory lap, and it, honestly, makes the pages more soggy than the ones that preceded it, feeling rushed to get in all the highlights of recent years. I also can't help but wish for a supplement to the book to get up to more recent times - Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, or the Lonely Island digital videos. Still, I can't say that's a fault of the book - it was written when it was written, though the slowing impact on the book's excitement is unignorable. Live From New York at its dullest can spend far too long on overcooked grievances and insecurities; why Janeane Garofalo - a very talented actress who had the misfortune of starring in a very bad year of SNL - gets so much ground to whine about... well I'm not sure, is beyond me. At its best, however, it wraps you in extraordinary fly-on-the-wall stories that make you feel like an insider revelling in all of SNL's endless relevance.

13 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Vasily Pugh

Fascinating reading about an American cultural phenomenon

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 13, 2020

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I had often heard this book quoted when certain comics were being discussed - it is a no holds barred account of everyone who was involved in SNL from its start in 1975 to pretty much today. So, with a fascination for 70s and 80s US comedy, I jumped straight in to this exhaustive look at the show.

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.

4 people found this helpful

Finlay

Astonishing anecdotes galore!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 9, 2022

Verified Purchase

Bought this as a casual bed-time read for myself at Christmas as I'm a huge SNL fan.

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!

Martin

A must read for SNL fans

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 29, 2020

Verified Purchase

This book has not be written, in that, its actually just a series of quotes and interviews from past performers and writers grouped together in chronological order referencing different topics. But, it is still a highly informative read and discusses a lot of behind the scenes details. It is great to hear various people discuss other performers and how the show was put together and evolved. The book only loses stars on the rating, because it doesn't feel like you are reading a book. Rather, you are reading a transcript of various conversations strung together as if Bill Murray and Will Ferrell where in the same room.

Jojo Allen

The best book on SNL!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 24, 2017

Verified Purchase

Read the first version and loved it. This updated one is even better!

Trish

Great book. Delivered on time, well packaged

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 9, 2020

Verified Purchase

Great book. Christmas gift. They will love it