Lorne Michaels is an interesting guy, isn't he? I've never really gotten a feel for who he is as a person, so this bio was super cool, and perfect timing, as SNL 50 is gloriously upon us. The format made it compulsively readable, each section starting with individual days of an SNL production week (week in the life?) leading up to Jonah Hill's five-timers episode. Then the actual chapters start chronologically from Lorne's upbringing and goes through his Canadian comedy roots, how hard he had to fight for SNL to even be on the air, to the present day. And of course, all the excitement and drama in between.

This one is definitely for the deep-dive nerd fans. (So, me.)

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley!

Being a big fan of Saturday night live for years it was a pleasure to read this extensive book about Lorne Michaels. The man is a genius and a vision 50 years ago to create probably one of the best and most important shows in the history of television.
The writing was excellent and very detailed and it told the story so well, I highly recommend this book to everyone who is fascinated with Lorne as I am.

Lorne by Susan Morrison is an in-depth look into the career of famed SNL producer Lorne Michaels. Set against the backdrop of the week before a show, Morrison unspools Michaels' career. She sourced it with interviews from those who have worked with him, names you'll likely know well if you ever watched SNL. To the author's credit, it's not gossipy at all but well-reported. There are some intriguing behind-the -scenes aspects to the narrative as well. That said, it does not move quickly. I may have expected the pace of the writing to match the frenetic pace of putting together a live weekly show, but this does not. It's a slow read but a good one. If you're a fan of SNL, you'll want to read this. Many thanks to #netgalley and #RandomHouse for the opportunity to preview this book.

This is what you want in a celebrity biography - or any biography, really. Deep reporting. Stories you haven’t heard a million times. Clean, incisive writing. And the feeling that you never know, moment to moment, just what you think about the subject, your assessment changing with the evidence.

Lorne Michaels is a source of constant fascination of anyone who comes into contact with him. Seemingly every SNL alumnus has a theory about him, and literally every SNL alumnus can’t seem to.stop thinking about him.

Michaels, through author Morrison’s reporting, emerges as an act of will and self-creation. What he has made of himself is not always flattering, but is always fascinating. I simply loved and devoured this book.

Many thanks to Random Hoise and NetGalley for the advance reviewer copy.

This man is an enigma! What an interesting biography. I loved that I got to learn more about Lorne, but also SNL. It felt like going behind the scenes, learning how pitch meetings work on Mondays and how Lorne organizes the shows. I’m younger, but have watched SNL for almost 20 years now. Knowing the show has been on for 50 seasons, its clear that Lorne was on to something. I recommend this book for anyone who loves Seth Meyer’s impression of Lorne, or loves Lorne himself.