Talk Show

Book excerpt: The legendary talk show host’s humorous reminiscences and pointed commentary on the great figures he has known, and culture and politics today. For years, Dick Cavett played host to the nation’s most famous personalities on his late-night talk show. In this humorous and evocative book, we get to hear Cavett’s best tales, as he recounts great moments with the legendary entertainers who crossed his path and offers his own trenchant commentary on contemporary American culture and politics. Pull up a chair and listen to Cavett’s stories about one-upping Bette Davis, testifying on behalf of John Lennon, confronting Richard Nixon, scheming with John Updike, befriending William F. Buckley, and palling around with Groucho Marx. Sprinkled in are tales of his childhood in Nebraska in the 1940s and 1950s, where he honed his sense of comic timing and his love of magic. Cavett is also a wry cultural observer, looking at America today and pointing out the foibles that we so often fail to notice about ourselves. And don’t even get him started on politicians. A generation of Americans ended their evenings in Dick Cavett’s company; Talk Show is a way to welcome him back. “Do you know that age-old question, If you could have dinner with anyone in the world, living or dead, who would it be? Well, assuming Santa Claus is unavailable, my answer would be Dick Cavett. After reading Talk Show, you could just imagine what a conversation with him would be like: pleasant, insightful, and oddly erotic. Dick Cavett is a legend and an inspiration to me.” —Jimmy Fallon