Lorne by Susan Morrison

Lorne

The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live

Susan Morrison

Random House Publishing Group · Print & ebook · February 18, 2025

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The definitive biography of Lorne Michaels, the man behind America’s most beloved comedy show “The kind of biographical monument usually consecrated to founding fathers, canonical authors and world-historical scientific geniuses.”—The New York Times (Editors’ Choice) “Readers are treated to the Holy Grail for any journalist hoping to crack the show: a warts-and-all week in the life of SNL, where Morrison gets to see the real process of putting the thing together.”—Variety LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, The New Yorker, Elle, Kirkus Reviews, Denver Public Library Over the fifty years that Lorne Michaels has been at the helm of Saturday Night Live, he has become a revered and inimitable presence in the entertainment world.

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Who it’s for
A lively portrait of the elusive force behind a comedy institution.
Genres
Lives in Entertainment, TV Comedy, Lives of the Rich & Famous
Published
Random House Publishing Group, February 18, 2025

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About this book

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The definitive biography of Lorne Michaels, the man behind America’s most beloved comedy show “The kind of biographical monument usually consecrated to founding fathers, canonical authors and world-historical scientific geniuses.”—The New York Times (Editors’ Choice) “Readers are treated to the Holy Grail for any journalist hoping to crack the show: a warts-and-all week in the life of SNL, where Morrison gets to see the real process of putting the thing together.”—Variety LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, The New Yorker, Elle, Kirkus Reviews, Denver Public Library Over the fifty years that Lorne Michaels has been at the helm of Saturday Night Live, he has become a revered and inimitable presence in the entertainment world.

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He’s a tastemaker, a mogul, a withholding father figure, a genius spotter of talent, a shrewd businessman, a name-dropper, a raconteur, the inspiration for Dr. Evil, the winner of more than a hundred Emmys—and, essentially, a mystery. Generations of writers and performers have spent their lives trying to figure him out, by turns demonizing and lionizing him. He’s “Obi-Wan Kenobi” (Tracy Morgan), the “great and powerful Oz” (Kate McKinnon), “some kind of very distant, strange comedy god” (Bob Odenkirk). Lorne will introduce you to him, in full, for the first time. With unprecedented access to Michaels and the entire SNL apparatus, Susan Morrison takes readers behind the curtain for the lively, up-and-down, definitive story of how Michaels created and maintained the institution that changed comedy forever. Drawn from hundreds of interviews—with Michaels, his friends, and SNL’s iconic stars and writers, from Will Ferrell to Tina Fey to John Mulaney to Chris Rock to Dan Aykroyd—Lorne is a deeply reported, wildly entertaining account of a man singularly obsessed with the show that would define his life and have a profound impact on American culture.

Comedy’s Quiet Architect

A lively portrait of the elusive force behind a comedy institution.

Come here for

  • The workings of Saturday Night Live, seen from behind the curtain
  • A career shaped by talent, business, and comic ambition

Expect

  • A deeply reported biography drawn from hundreds of interviews
  • An entertaining look at comedy’s place in American culture

Where it sits

Lives in Entertainment89%
TV Comedy36%
Lives of the Rich & Famous29%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Lives in Entertainment
  • Celebrity & Pop Culture Humor
  • TV Comedy
Authors
Susan Morrison
Publisher
Random House Publishing Group
Published
February 18, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Reading lane
Lives in Entertainment