In 20023 Bill Zehme landed an interview with Johnny Carson - the only one he'd granted since retiring from hosting The Tonight Show a decade earlier. Shortly after Carson's death in 2005, Zehme signed a contract to do an expansive biography. He toiled on the book for nearly a decade before a cancer diagnosis halted his progress. The hundreds of pages Zehme managed to complete are astounding both for the caliber of their writing and how they illuminate one of the most inscrutable figures in entertainment history. Completed with help from Zehme's former research assistant Mike Thomas, Carson the Magnificent offers an honest assessment of who Johnny Carson really was.