‘Top of the Morning’ Review: ‘Like a Breakfast Made Not Quite to Order’

By Chris Ariens 

New York Times reporter Brian Stelter‘s new book is reviewed by his own New York Times. Former Dallas Morning News TV critic Ed Bark, known as Uncle Barky, writes, “Top of the Morning” “ends up being like a breakfast made not quite to order.”

The eggs over easy have one hard yolk, and the bacon’s a little limp. The toast is well-buttered but burned, and the coffee’s short on heat. Edible? Yes. Fulfilling? Not quite.

“Sometimes Mr. Stelter seems to throw out verbiage mainly for his own amusement,” Bark writes, adding, “He knows how to turn a phrase.”

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“Top of the Morning” ends up being a fairly engaging book that might set some industry tongues wagging. Tasty tidbits are served, but nothing close to Mr. Carter’s big-buzz revelation in “The Late Shift” that Mr. Leno hid in a closet to eavesdrop on a conference call in which top NBC brass discussed replacing him with Mr. Letterman as the “Tonight Show” host. If Ms. Curry ever did anything like that, well, she’s not telling.

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