From Publishers Weekly
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.

From Kirkus Reviews
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.

Book Description
You either hate him or love him: Don Imus, with his equal-opportunity-insult style. Either way, you'll find this definitive, in-depth account of the ex-Marine and rhythm-and-blues singer who now rivals Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern as king of the air waves a revelation. You'll follow the quick rise of Imus from small-time stations in California to his first triumphs in New York as the morning host on WNBC. In a year, drugs, alcohol, and ego ended the glory, and, for the next eight, Imus battled the demons that had nearly cost him all hopes of a career. But in 1979, he was back at WNBC, introducing his Right Reverend Dr. Billy Sol Hargus to New York. With a battery of exclusive personal interviews with Imus's friends and associates as well as with classic selections from the Imus radio archives, this biography offers a detailed, balanced portrait of a public personality and a private man: The one, the only, the disputatious and inimitable Don Imus.

FROM OUR EDITORS

Don Imus has been radio's bad boy since Howard Stern was just a teenager. And though he may not have quite as large an audience as Stern, every day 15 million people tune in to hear what's on the mind of radio's original shock jock. In Imus: A Biography, Kathleen Tracy probes the past of this very private personality, following his rise from small-market radio to his years as the morning man at New York's WNBC to his current position as host of one of the most popular syndicated radio shows in the country.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Whatever one's personal assessment of the man's public persona, the fact remains that Don Imus has had an undeniable impact on the talk radio landscape, with a rich and varied career that began in 1969 at a small Palmdale, California station and currently boasts a nationally syndicated radio show, broadcast in over 80 cities reaching 14,000,000 people and simulcast on the MSNBC cable network.

Don Imus: America's Cowboy details, through dozens of exclusive interviews with family members, friends and radio associates, the rise, fall, rise, fall and rise of Don Imus. From his first great success when his Imus in the Morning show debuted in NYC in 1970 on 66 AM WNBC, to his humiliating firing seven years later when drug and alcohol abuse threatened not only his career but his life, to his triumphant return to New York in 1979 to his near-death drinking binge in 1987 to the rehab experience that saved his life, the book paints a vivid picture of where Imus has been and how it shaped the man he is today.

The book also examines Imus' childhood, with many never before revealed anecdotes about his adolescence and family background, including his father's tragic decent into alcoholism.

The story behind Don Imus: America's Cowboy isn't simply one of ambition fulfilled; it is also the story of personal triumph over adversity that fans and non-fans alike will find compelling.

SYNOPSIS

For the first time, the eye-opening life story of radio's controversial and remarkably influential talk-show host.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

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 incendiary--and oft-protested--rhetoric 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.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

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). Imus's 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 Imus's 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, he'd 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 America's morning rush. Too much money went into booze and cocaine, so that Stern's 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 Imus's quips about public figures. Imus had a controversial exchange with Bill Clinton, and Bob Dole called in asking for Imus's nonendorsement. The breezy biographyadmires 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)