Reading Ed McMahon

By Jason Boog 

463c1363ada0b4ec8012d010.L._AA240_.jpgAlthough television personality Ed McMahon made his name as Johnny Carson’s sidekick, he was an author as well. As the world mourns his passing, GalleyCat studied seven different books by the late entertainer.

His bestselling book was “Here’s Johnny!,” a memoir about his 30-years working on Carson’s show. However, his work ranged from a 1972 diet handbook entitled “Slimming Down” to a 2007 oral history about his work in the early days of television entitled, “When Television Was Young: The Inside Story with Memories by Legends of the Small Screen.”

Here’s an excerpt from a Publishers Weekly review of his 1998 memoir, “For Laughing Out Loud: My Life and Good Times“: “In between pitches and punch lines (many cribbed from on-the-air performances), we see him give time and money to various charities, get married three times and raise five kids. The relentlessly upbeat tone falters only in discussions of his two divorces (“Imagine, me, hiring a private investigator to follow my wife” ). While it is difficult to imagine a true fan of McMahon, readers with a high tolerance for the ever-unctuous announcer will find this memoir every bit as lively as its subject.”