Confessions of a Late Night Talk Show Host - Hardcover

Shandling, Garry; Rensin, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684812045 ISBN 13: 9780684812045

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1998

Synopsis

With the wit and charm and wit that have made him one of America's most beloved, and now most sorely missed, television personalities, Larry Sanders tells here the story behind the man -- Larry -- from his emotionally barren beginnings in Mound, Minnesota, to his ten-year run as the man millions went to bed with every night. (He had a very big bed.) Confessions of a Late Night Talk Show Host is a Hollywood autobiography like no other because it reveals all -- the loves and losses, the pain and joy, the shrinks and doctors -- and it is uproariously funny. Larry Sanders has written a book that will have the same ten-year run that his show did.

Larry Sanders is no ordinary man, and this book will show America and the world how very different he is. Fueled by an enormous need to be loved and gifted with a talent beyond even his own, Sanders has risen to the top of his field -- and dropped -- while retaining all of his dignity and modesty. As he says on the first page of his story, "I'm famous. Actually, I'm very, very, very famous." Sanders's story is laced with the names (and some of the faces) of the thousands of celebrities who have sought his attention for a decade -- and Sanders tells the world what he thinks of all of them, even if it hurts his own feelings.

Confessions of a Late Night Talk Show Host is a Hollywood tell-all that will forever change the nature of this kind of book. While Geraldo Rivera used his sexual exploits to shamelessly promote his book, Sanders uses his conquests of thousands of women to illustrate his compassion and grace. "If it sells, it sells," Sanders says. "There was never a hidden agenda." While Roseanne used her book to promote her many personalities, Sanders's book shows how a straight-shooter can not only survive but thrive in Hollywood. Most of all, Sanders, in truthfully disclosing all aspects of his life and those of people he has never met, hopes to heal and entertain. Sanders has written a wonderfully hilarious book that will make some of his fans wish he were back.

About this title

Review:

If you're a devoted fan of The Larry Sanders Show--the HBO program that wrapped up its award-filled run in May 1998--you've already got a copy. However, it was nice to find that this book, written by Sanders's comic alter ego Garry Shandling (assisted by the über-ghostwriter David Rensin), stands on its own as an ironic, tongue-deeply-in-cheek look at talk-showdom. Here are a few samples:

Here is a photo of Jennie Garth from Beverly Hill 90210. I had sex with her a dozen times, but she never reciprocated. Her excuse was, "I like men."

Unbeknownst to most everyone except those of you who regularly read those trashy tabloids--and that would be all of you--I have suffered through many personal tragedies: an unhappy and abusive childhood, two divorces, many empty love affairs, a venereal disease that nearly took my right leg, feuds, substance dependencies, a palimony suit from my mother, who said, "You live with me for twenty years and move out just like that? This will cost you," and worst of all, the horror of being rear-ended backstage by one of Siegfried and Roy's big white leopards.

Confessions of a Late Night Talk Show Host is an enjoyable tour through stardom with a truly sleazy Hollywood character. Anybody who relishes celebrity bios will get the joke and engage in delicious snickers of recognition. Larry Sanders is dead, long live Larry Sanders! --Michael Gerber

About the Author:

Garry Shandling is a comedian, actor, and writer, who in the past has hosted late night television, which makes him the perfect collaborator for his book.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0684812045
• ISBN 13: 9780684812045
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240