Seinfeld: The Making of an American Icon – An Unauthorized and Candid Biography Revealing His Private Life and Journey to Television Success

by Jerry Oppenheimer

The never-before-told story of how Jerry Seinfeld made his dream come true -- of how this very ambitious, extremely driven, compulsively perfectionistic carefully worked his way up through the knock-down-drag-out world of stand-up comedy as it began to explode in the mid-1970s, & how he went on to co-create in the late 80s what is considered to be the most successful TV sitcom in its history. From the start, Jerry has been extremely private about all aspects of his personal life. For more than a year, Oppenheimer conducted in-depth interviews with scores of Jerry s closes friends, family members, bus. assoc., lovers, & fellow comedians who spoke candidly, painting a riveting portrait of the beloved & talented comedian.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Jerry Oppenheimer is an author who has written several unauthorized biographies of public figures including Hillary and Bill Clinton, Anna Wintour, Rock Hudson, Martha Stewart, Barbara Walters, Ethel Kennedy, Jerry Seinfeld and the Hilton family.

Toy Monster: The Big Bad World of Mattel was published on Feb 3 2009 and his latest book (as of Aug 2, 2009), will be about Bernie Madoff, titled Madoff with the Money. Both published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

In addition to being a biographer he has also worked in several different capacities as a journalist, including as an investigative reporter and a producer of television news programs and documentaries.

Reviews

[Jerry Seinfeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book, truly inspiring.

[Alan · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the most poorly-written and badly-edited biographies it's ever been my displeasure to read. The author's obsessive accounting of every possible indication that Seinfeld is probably gay ultimately implies, quite strongly, that the comedian's notorious public relationships (one with a 17-year-old girl when Seinfeld was 39, one with a married woman who later left her husband and married Seinfeld, bearing his children) are merely cynical distractions from his true sexuality. It could be true, or it could be the author's fevered imaginings; whatever the truth, the manner in which Oppenheimer returns again and again and again to his thesis on virtually every page of the book seems sensationalist, embittered and not a little bit like the sour grapes of a lover, scorned. The final product feels like the fruit of a poisoned tree, not so much biography as the dull head of the ax Oppenheimer cannot stop himself from grinding. Avoid at all costs.

[Terry Abeline Carden · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, I plugged through and finished this book. I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this book to anyone. The rambling, the flawed players in the story, the boring detailed nuances that fill the pages were painful.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jerry Oppenheimer did a nice job in straying from a book of glorification. Going in, I believed this text would chronicle all of Jerry's successes and accomplishments in a way that made him look like a perfect specimen. However, each chapter seemed to end by pointing out his flaws, his downfalls: he abandoned not only his hometown but the Jewish community there, he's commitment-phobic, he devastated his college sweetheart EIGHT times with breakups, he stole away a married woman and then a newlywed in the span of a few months. The list goes on and on.

I will say, though, that this book was motivating for someone who would love to climb the ranks in the entertainment industry. Jerry worked diligently, had focus (albeit sometimes through the likes of Scientology), and even though he was once nerdy came out on top with women - always maintained respect for them, never womanized. Overall, I learned a good deal about the business, and am more terrified and excited than ever to continue down this path of acting/comedy/entertainment, shrouded in mystery and incredible opportunities.

Time to get my shit together. That's all for my blog-like literary review.

[Miguel Alvarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is essentially about Jerry Seinfeld's life from the day he was born to the early 2000s, starting with a back story of both his parents (mainly his father). However, if you're hoping to get a nice "insider" towards the actual Seinfeld sit com, then you're out of luck because the book only covers the show very briefly. But it does tell events leading up to the creation of the show in great detail.
I enjoyed the book because it gave me different perspective of who Jerry really is and what mold him to become such a way (for example the constant "Jewish" references). What I really didn't like about the book is that the author also focuses on telling the biographies of a few others that became part of Jerry's closer inner circle. I understand it's important to know their back stories but the author went into such great detail towards them that I began to slightly forget I was reading about Jerry Seinfeld and made the reading a bit insipid.

[Debra Komar · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars, rounded up

It seems that all biographies written today fall into one of two camps: either the biographer gushes over their subject, or they hate them. In this case, Oppenheimer does not hide his disdain for his subject. There are constant innuendoes, suggesting Seinfeld is gay (as if that matters - seriously, have we not gotten past this being a scandal by now?) or that Seinfeld is an egotistical jerk.

The book was published more than a decade ago, so it is dated. It starts and stops abruptly, as if edited out of a larger work. Honestly, I skipped the first half, which was a very lengthy bio of Jerry's father and mother and his childhood, which was not terribly compelling.

Gossipy, trashy - a classic unauthorized biography.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an unauthorized biography of the well known comedian. It tells his life story up until just after his marriage and birth of his first child. Interesting book - really delves into his background and gives a clear portrait of the determination and drive he had to succeed as a comedian.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bitchy, but satisfying in its detail. Anyone who grew up on Long Island in the 1960s will catch the authentic flavor of the place and times. I didn't follow the TV show that closely, but now feel I know a lot more about Jerry Seinfeld than I did. The book is now slightly out of date, since he and his wife have had two more children since this bio was published.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting biography of comedian and TV legend Jerry Seinfeld. The author does a good job covering Jerry's growing-up years, his early attempts at doing stand-up comedy, and the influential people he met along the way who helped him along in his career. There is also much about his various girlfriends, most of whom stayed under the radar for years until his TV show hit it big. At the end of the book, Jerry is married to Jessica Sklar Nederlander (who left her new husband after just a few weeks to be with Jerry), and they had had their first child. There was a fairly good amount of the book about the TV show, although I would have liked to have read more about how he got along with his fellow actors- except for co-creator Larry David, either the book has scanty information, or Jerry didn't have much interaction with the cast and crew except during working hours.

**#102 of 120 books pledged to read/review during 2016**

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that this book provided me with a pretty clear picture of Jerry Seinfeld, and it isn't a pretty picture. Narcissistic? Entitled? Yes, it appears to me that Jerry Seinfeld is rather shallow. The book spent way too much time on the genealogy of Eric and Jessica's families. In fact, the detailed backstory of every single person and Jerry Seinfeld's life was way overblown. Photographs would have added a lot. Of course as a fan of the sitcom, I would have enjoyed learning more about the cast members relationships with Jerry, what Jerry thought of the cast members, and the interactions between them over the long years that the sitcom ran.

[Bethany Royer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being a huge fan of the, "Seinfeld" TV series, (I don't wanna be a pirate! Get out! Not a bra, a bro...) I was disgusted with Seinfeld after reading this book. He came across as quite the snob and I can only hope that Oppenheimer simply got it all wrong. Or that I attempted to read too much between the lines, that Seinfeld is nothing BUT money and lime light hungry. Shallow. Callous. Everything I strive to stay away from, what a shame.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been a Seinfeld fan ever since his series was on TV in the 1990's. This was interesting but paints him as a much less complex person than he probably really is. Oppenheimer obviously didn't like the woman who ended up being Jerry's wife much. However, the world of the uber-rich is unknown to the majority of us, so who knows what really attracts? All in all, an interesting read but not particularly well-written.

[Derelict Space Sheep · Rating 1 out of 5]

42 WORD REVIEW:

Further to Oppenheimer’s curious use of the definite article in prefacing ‘unauthorised biography’, Australians may question his authority, finding it difficult to read beyond the slipshod fact-checking (page seven) of placing Seinfeld’s father at a WWII army base in Rock Hampton [sic].

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author implies that Jerry had an affair with comedian George Wallace. I don't know what to think about that. This book is a good overview of Jerry's early life and his quirks that helped skyrocket him to success.

[Theresa Clemen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy reading this book - the author did not go on and on and on, about small things, as some do, in these types of books. Actually, I now understand the concept of the Seinfeld show.

I would recommend it.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The life of Jerry Seinfeld told through the eyes of friends and colleagues. Interesting read if you are a seinfeld fan, and like scandal (Jerry's affairs with a high school student and later a married woman).

[Pat Lampe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read an e version of this book, which I did enjoy. It was a little more detailed than I wanted and I wish it had been in paper so I could skim now and then. But I do now have a pretty thorough account of his life up to his first child.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The complete story about how the show was conceived, the lives of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, and how the show evolved. As a show fan, I enjoyed reading the background to Jerry and one of the best shows on TV.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent biography about Jerry Seinfeld. You can check it out at the Waterloo library.

[Rachael]

not funny like Jerry himself, but then again he didn't write it. Rather boring actually, nothing exceptional happened in his life other than becoming one of the greatest comedians of all time.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but no real surprises here.

[Phil Steffen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The complete story about how the show was conceived, the lives of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, and the evolution of the show, which is perhaps the best sitcom in the history of television.

[Susan Yessian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although well researched, this biography leaves the reader less enamored of Jerry Seinfeld especially in his choice of a wife.

[David Keep · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly dreadful. Reads like an overlong piece of tabloid tat

[Cathy Koerner · Rating 3 out of 5]

An immensely detailed description of Jerrys life. Not very flattering of his character or behavior, that is the way he is. He may be a funny guy, but he isn't very nice.

[D. Thrush · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jerry Seinfeld guards his private life as most of us would. But, having grown up in the same area, I was interested in how a kid from Long Island rose to the top of the comedy world. This bio didn’t have the cooperation of Jerry or his co-stars in his successful show and takes quotes from other interviews. Yet there were plenty of people who grew up or encountered him who gave the author their versions of events. Sometimes Jerry doesn’t come off well, but this is a slanted view. So, yeah, I learned a lot about Jerry Seinfeld, but I also took a lot of the opinions with a grain of salt. Still, I found it well researched and compiled and an interesting look at a private man.

[TheManOnTheMoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author in this book was rude, crude, sharp, and mean. And I couldn’t put it down! Everything I never knew I wanted to know about Seinfeld. All the gritty, shitty, dark corners of his life were put under a spotlight and jabbed at by the author. The author is a total asshole, and very self righteous in his attempt to go after the comic, but, he did it very well. Like a trained athlete. No stone left unturned, albeit a bit preach and redundant about the whole “he might be gay” thing. I really enjoyed this book .

[Eric Carlson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oppenheimer did a good job for an author not granted access to the subject. Its not a fantastic biography, but its readable and interesting to learn some history about the comic and his friends.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jerry Seinfeld was my favorite comedian at the time that I read this, so I found this book very informative and at times really funny.