Imus: America's Cowboy - Hardcover

A lively biography of the self-made syndicated shock jock who reinvented himself as a more powerful political pundit than Rush Limbaugh. Tracy has written celebrity biographies of Drew Carey and Jerry Seinfeld, but the I-man is more than a comedian with ratings. The biography relates the childhood that made Don Imus caustic and crusty on and off the air (unlike his more self-deprecating, vulnerable, and successful radio rival, Howard Stern). Imuss father was an occasionally abusive alcoholic who roamed several desert Southwest towns. His parents were college-educated, and young Don escaped by reading avariciously. Tracy depicts Imuss craving for the limelight and how his insufferable ego begot trouble. He was impeached as class president ``for being too dictatorial.'' While cruising in cars with brother Fred and friends, hed listen to Wolfman Jack howling and use his ``ability to piss people off'' from the window. His parents separated. The future multimillionaire had a lean decade in the marines, as a miner and railroad brakeman, trying to get a break as a musician while sleeping in laundromats. Finally, he fell behind a radio microphone and spun the industry around by turning the deep-voiced disk jockey into a personality who would insult major figures in Americas morning rush. Too much money went into booze and cocaine, so that Sterns autobiography pegs him as ``the only guy who looked as if he was being limoed to a park bench.'' Along with many colorful other stories about him, Tracy animates the book with many of Imuss quips about public figures. Imus had a controversial exchange with Bill Clinton, and Bob Dole called in asking for Imuss nonendorsement. The breezy biography admires this court jester/cowboy who picked himself up by the bootstraps to kick coke, raise a second marriage, do TV, and strongly influence publishing and politics. An entertaining life of a pioneer whom America loves to hate. (16 pages b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

In this comprehensive biography of radio host Don Imus, Tracy (Home Brewed: The Drew Carey Biography; Seinfeld: The Entire Domain) patches together the reminiscences of friends and enemies into a rollicking narrative of the sleazy but successful career of the "I-Man." Tracy posits that Imus, who grew up on an Arizona ranch, brought a cowboy ethos with him to Manhattan. By her lights, Imus is "a rugged individualist living by his own code" with a "from-the-hip style." Despite much-publicized alcohol and drug problems, and incidents like his 1969 firing for repeatedly making comments about "spooks," after having held a mean-spirited "Eldridge Cleaver look-alike contest," Imus has always bounced back. His incendiaryAand oft-protestedArhetoric and his jousting with public figures who criticize him have garnered the talk-radio pioneer an audience of 15 million who listen to him on WFAN in New York, or in syndication on almost 100 stations. Whereas Jim Reed's recent biography, Everything Imus, is based almost exclusively on second-hand stories, Tracy has conducted extensive interviews, producing hilarious reflections and a balanced account. Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post asks, following a presidential appearance on Imus in the Morning, "Why would somebody like Bill Clinton, a decent human being, go on a show where there are constant references to genitals and Jews and derogatory comments about blacks?" Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes takes up the defense, calling Imus rival Howard Stern "a vulgar, vulgar man," and finding Imus "infinitely more intelligent [and] infinitely more sensitive." The shock jock who calls himself "Howard Stern with a vocabulary" will find little here to raise his famous ire. (Aug..-- infinitely more sensitive." The shock jock who calls himself "Howard Stern with a vocabulary" will find little here to raise his famous ire. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.