Live from New York

An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live

By: Tom Shales, James Andrew Miller

Narrated by: Christopher Burns, Eric Conger

Saturday Night Live changed the face of television: it introduced brash new stars, trashed TV taboos, and had an impact on American life, laughter, and politics.

Dozens of stars, writers, guest hosts, contributors, and craftsmen recall the backstage stories, behind-the-scenes gossip, feuds, foibles, drugs, sex, struggles, and calamities, including personal details never before revealed.

Stars interviewed include Mike Myers, Chris Rock, Bill Murray, Tom Hanks, Adam Sandler, Chevy Chase, Will Ferrell, Dan Aykroyd, Steve Martin, Jon Lovitz, Jane Curtin, Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Dana Carvey, Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Kattan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Garrett Morris, Molly Shannon, Damon Wayans, Chris Elliott, Julia Sweeney, Norm Macdonald, and Paul Simon - plus writers like Al Franken, Conan O'Brien, Larry David, Rosie Shuster, Jack Handey, Robert Smigel, Don Novello, and others who got their big breaks as part of the SNL team.

Live from New York does what no other book about the show has ever done: It lets the people who were there tell the story in their own words, blunt and loving and uncensored.

©2002 Thomas W. Shales and Jimmy the Writer Inc., (P)2002 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"The juiciest treasure trove of backstage gossip, sex and drugs since The Andy Warhol Diaries." (Publishers Weekly)

Honestly, Not Great - Only For The BIGGEST Fans

Would you try another book from Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller and/or Christopher Burns and Eric Conger ?

Doubtful

Would you ever listen to anything by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller again?

Doubtful

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Christopher Burns and Eric Conger ?

I think if you're going to try to have lots of different voices for so many different people like that, you've got to have so many more narrators than they did for this audiobook. It was embarrassing to hear the same african-american guy doing all the african-american guy voices, and it was lame to hear the same "young sounding guy" do a couple of the voices back-to-back without even trying to sound different.Some of the voices have accents that the real-life people they're representing don't even have! Honestly, this was not good.If I hadn't been a lifelong, gigantic fan of SNL, I never would've even finished listening to this.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

It actually reads like an interview-heavy documentary. I'd have MUCH rather seen the real people talking than hear these awful voice overs from other actors.

Any additional comments?

The fact that SNL and its history is enthralling all by itself is the only thing that makes this book even sort of worth listening to. There are some really interesting and worthwhile moments in this book, but the audiobook performance is abysmal.

Interesting

Good overall summary of SNL's history - not much detail though. Recommended for general information.

Interesting inside look, so-so presentation

I definitely enjoyed listening to this book, mostly for the insightful, interesting, behind-the-scenes look at SNL. The accounts from the various cast members, especially the early ones, confirmed what I had suspected about the show.

I *really* wish that the narrators had simply read the quotes of the various writers, hosts and cast members. In imitating people whose voices you knew well (such as the various cast members) they came off as caricatured, often oddly similar, voice impressions and overall detracted from listening experience and content of the book. The narrators take artistic license by interpreting and adding dramatic emphasis, emotion, etc. to the quotes of various people that I question would have been there had the actual people spoke.

Overall, I good listening experience to learn more about the makings of an American pop culture institution.

Great Job

I think the actors who recreated voices of people we know did an amazing job (sometimes having to re-create the voices of a character we know doing an impersonation of another celebrity!). Obviously, getting the original quotees would have been prohibitively expensive. As far as being somewhat melancholy in mood, as opposed to being a nice, packaged tribute, that's what the point of the book is... the show can be cancelled at any time without notice.. and that has been true for its entire turbulent history. It's never comfortable and nice.

entertaining recap

wish it went throughout the present day. but narration was pretty entertaining for the different voices and really added to the story. easy to follow along and learn a lot about the SNL show.

Live From New York was amazing

Would you consider the audio edition of Live from New York to be better than the print version?

I really enjoyed the audio edition since there were multiple people that helped write the book there were also multiple voices that help read the book as well. Having all these voices help me picture the people being interviewed. It also gave me a visual throwback to the skits and times that the people hosted or were a part of the SNL cast.

Listening to the audio book has also inspired me to pick up the print version as well.

What other book might you compare Live from New York to and why?

This book not only gave a history to the show but also to the City and what everyone was going through during different times.

To me this book is SNL's biography.

What does Christopher Burns and Eric Conger bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

You are able to feel all the emotion that everyone was going through when they talk about significant moments in their history and in the show's.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

It was very moving when old cast members/hosts/producers would talk about a cast member that passed away. During these parts the book get's views from a lot of people and you are given a great insight to what they were going through at that difficult time.

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed this book and will for sure pick up a print copy as well.

Really good listen. Screw Chevy Chase

Got kinda mad at the defensiveness of those interviewed when racism and sexism allegations come forth, but a really insightful and sometimes tragic listen.

If You Were Not A Cast Member No Impressions Pleas

Loved the book, hated the people who read it. Robin Williams impression was especially bad.

Fascinating Book, So-So Narrative

I agree with the other reviewers that the people who read quotes from cast members' and writers' interviews probably misinterpreted the quotes by placing the emphasis in the wrong places. This detracted slightly from the book's presentation, as did the slightly off attempts to impersonate the voices which we all know so well. Still, the content of the book was fascinating, and this book was extremely well written and researched. I was not looking for sensationalism, or "an expose." This book offers the facts, interpretations and experiences of the cast members over the years and presents them in a frank, factual and entertaining style. The writing and the narration, even with the possible problems with the quotes, made this one of the most interesting audiobooks I have heard in a long time. But I am a fan and was interested in knowning about all the backstage drama at SNL.

This book explains how and why the show got so bad at points, and how and why it got better. It explains the concept for the show and the network's meddling and occasionally necessary interference. It discusses the interrelationship of the cast members, writers and producers throughout the years. I found it fascinating. If you liked the show, you'll like the book.

Loved it!

I wish there was more of this book - I could have listened all day to former SNL castmates and writers sharing their experiences. At the very least, you'll walk away from this highly-entertaining read with a new respect and admiration for Saturday Night Live. For the audio version, some contributors to the book are combined so hearing the same voice read for multiple characters could be a bit distracting at first. However, well worth getting past! Great behind-the-scenes look and highly-entertaining listen.