Live From New York

I recently finished Live From New York, a history of "Saturday Night Live." What a juicy read! I read a lot of nonfiction, but this may be the first book I've ever read about a TV show. It's very interesting. At first, I thought I'd only read the back half, namely, the sections about the seaons of SNL I remember watching. My Dad, who loaned me the book, encouraged me to read the whole thing, because he said that more than anything, the book is a portrait of the show's executive producer, Lorne Michaels. Dad was right, and I heartily recommend the book to anyone who is familiar with the show or has an interest in the behind the scenes workings of a live television institution.

I did learn that Chevy Chase appears to be an enormous jerk. I also learned a lot more about the process of writing a show like SNL than I'd ever thought about before.