Audio only
Length9h 39m
About this audiobook
New York Times comedy critic Jason Zinoman delivers the definitive story of the life and artistic legacy of David Letterman, the greatest television talk show host of all time and the signature comedic voice of a generation.
In a career spanning more than thirty years, David Letterman redefined the modern talk show with an ironic comic style that transcended traditional television. While he remains one of the most famous stars in America, he is a remote, even reclusive, figure whose career is widely misunderstood. In Letterman, Jason Zinoman, the first comedy critic in the history of the New York Times, mixes groundbreaking reporting with unprecedented access and probing critical analysis to explain the unique entertainer’s titanic legacy. Moving from his early days in Indiana to his retirement, Zinoman goes behind the scenes of Letterman’s television career to illuminate the origins of his revolutionary comedy, its overlooked influences, and how his work intersects with and reveals his famously eccentric personality.
Zinoman argues that Letterman had three great artistic periods, each distinct and part of his evolution. As he examines key broadcasting moments—"Stupid Pet Tricks" and other captivating segments that defined Late Night with David Letterman—he illuminates Letterman’s relationship to his writers, and in particular, the show’s co-creator, Merrill Markoe, with whom Letterman shared a long professional and personal connection.
To understand popular culture today, it’s necessary to understand David Letterman. With this revealing biography, Zinoman offers a perceptive analysis of the man and the artist whose ironic voice and caustic meta-humor was critical to an entire generation of comedians and viewers—and whose singular style ushered in new tropes that have become clichés in comedy today.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.9 (3.2K)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, StoryGraph, LibraryThing
GenreOther, Biography and Memoir
Length9 hrs 39 mins
Narrated byMichael Goldstrom
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateApr 11, 2017
LanguageEnglish
The Holy Bible - 1 SamuelKing James2h 13m4.8 (1.6K)$3 · $0.00
The American Standard Bible — The Gospel of MatthewMatthew3h 56m4.7 (3K)$2 · $0.00
Bad Fat Black GirlSesali Bowen6h 32m4.7 (2.8K)$24 · $0.00
The King James Audio Bible New Testament CompleteChristopher Glyn20h 2m4.7 (2.6K)$12 · $0.00
Faiths CheckbookCharles Spurgeon12h 44m4.7 (3.2K)$11 · $0.00
Ten Things I Wish You Knew About Your Child's Mental HealthDr. Billy Garvey4h 53m4.7 (2.4K)$20 · $0.00
The Book of PsalmsUnknown Author5h 9m4.6 (18K)$10
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m4.7 (343)$20 · $0.00
The Chosen Book OneAmanda Jenkins, Kristen Hendricks, Dallas Jenkins3h 8m4.6 (4.9K)$10 · $0.00
The Lives of BrianBrian Johnson9h 45m4.6 (3.5K)$29 · $0.00
Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of LukeJ.C. Ryle27h 13m4.7 (536)$18 · $0.00
CrossroadsKaleb Dahlgren7h 56m4.6 (4.9K)$26 · $0.00
Across the RiverKent Babb11h 40m4.6 (927)$29 · $0.00
Brain Training for RidersAndrea Monsarrat Waldo5h 56m4.7 (550)$19 · $0.00
My Effin' LifeGeddy Lee17h 11m4.6 (13.1K)$40 · $0.00
Kings and PawnsHoward Bryant10h 9m4.6 (678)$29 · $0.00
The Elementia Chronicles #2: The New OrderSean Fay Wolfe11h 17m4.6 (841)$29 · $0.00
The ActsLuke2h 55m4.6 (19.7K)$12 · $0.00
Woodcraft and Camping (Annotated)George Washington Sears3h 30m4.6 (1.2K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Hate U GiveAngie Thomas11h 50m4.5 (1.1M)$8 · $0.00
How to Test Negative for StupidJohn Kennedy8h 13m4.7 (9.7K)$28 · $0.00
Defying JihadEsther Ahmad8h 50m4.7 (4.8K)$20
Bad Fat Black GirlSesali Bowen6h 32m4.7 (2.8K)$24 · $0.00
Send MeMarty Skovlund, Joe Kent8h 10m4.7 (1.6K)$26 · $0.00
Left for DeadEbony Canion5h 34m4.7 (2.2K)$17
John Muir: The Story of My Boyhood and Youth & Letters to a Friend (Annotated)John Muir10h 13m4.7 (1.1K)$1.99 · $0.00
Invisible StormJason Kander6h 48m4.7 (3.2K)$24 · $0.00
Forever BoyKate Swenson9h 27m4.7 (5K)$29 · $0.00
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m4.7 (4.8K)$29 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m4.6 (178K)$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
Evidence Not SeenDarlene Deibler Rose11h 11m4.6 (11.9K)$29 · $0.00
A Bridge Not Too FarDeepak Ohri4h 55m4.8 (179)$15
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m4.7 (351)$20 · $0.00
Will You Love Me?Cathy Glass9h 5m4.6 (9.3K)$29 · $0.00
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m4.7 (343)$20 · $0.00
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m4.6 (10.8K)$24 · $0.00
Finding MeViola Davis9h 15m4.6 (256.4K)$29 · $0.00
Scandal Between the Sheets & Stranded with the Tempting StrangerBrenda Jackson9h 22m4.8 (141)$24 · $0.00
The Dangerous Truth about Today’s MarijuanaLaura Stack CSP, MBA9h 57m4.7 (384)$20 · $0.00
You may also like
Women in ClothesSheila Heti, Heidi Julavits, Leanne Shapton, others19h 14m3.9 (3.2K)$25 · $0.00
Sartre in 90 MinutesPaul Strathern1h 41m3.7 (1.1K)$7
The Education of Henry AdamsHenry Adams19h 38m3.8 (7K)$0.60 · $0.00
The Teenage BrainFrances E. Jensen, Amy Ellis Nutt9h 2m4.0 (8.7K)$29 · $0.00
Savage BeautyNancy Milford24h 39m4.1 (10.7K)$30
Darkwater: Voices from Within the VeilWilliam Edward Burghardt Du Bois7h 27m4.3 (2.5K)$2 · $0.00
Loss and Gain (Annotated)John Henry Newman13h 29m4.2 (370)$3 · $0.00
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManJames Joyce9h 16m3.8 (193.5K)$20
Mary JaneJessica Anya Blau9h 45m4.2 (166.6K)$29 · $0.00
The ProfessorCharlotte Bronte10h3.7 (36.1K)$2.30 · $0.00
Absolution - a false start to The Great Gatsby (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald2h 24m4.0 (1.5K)$2 · $0.00
The Field Guide to the North American TeenagerBen Philippe9h 12m4.0 (19.5K)$29 · $0.00
Karl LagerfeldAlfons Kaiser14h 59m4.2 (317)$23 · $0.00
Cinderella Ate My DaughterPeggy Orenstein6h 13m3.8 (19.2K)$24 · $0.00
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManJames Joyce9h 22m3.8 (194K)$1.20 · $0.00
The Mother DanceHarriet Lerner9h 39m4.0 (3.2K)$29 · $0.00
American NegraNatasha S. Alford10h 39m4.3 (474)$29 · $0.00
Words without MusicPhilip Glass15h 5m4.3 (7.4K)$23
The Garden Party and Other StoriesKatherine Mansfield7h4.0 (14.8K)$23
RodinFrederic V. Grunfeld27h 2m4.2 (249)$32