An interview with Bernard Asbell, author of The Book of You, a compendium of curious and marginally interesting statistics. Following Mr. Asbell (who also wrote What They Know About You, which sounds like the exact ]]>

Aug 12, 1992. Jay Leno is involved in a dispute with another late night talk show host. The more things change…

An interview with Bernard Asbell, author of The Book of You, a compendium of curious and marginally interesting statistics. Following Mr. Asbell (who also wrote What They Know About You, which sounds like the exact same book) is an hour of open phones where nearly all callers sound like they’re part of the crowd waiting outside the studio for Jerry Langford. I swear, one call after another, it is the night from radio talk show hell, and you can hear Tom struggle to make either sense or entertainment out of it. Tom’s day didn’t start well, apparently. Something’s wrong, and it’s not just that Tom’s show was to be dropped by WABC-AM in New York. Tom is flustered. Tom gets the year wrong at one moment… and gets his own toll-free call-in number wrong shortly after that. He blames his busy day (“my mind is a bowl of guava jelly”) but does not elaborate as to what might have happened. We once again hear – albeit briefly – about the charms of Snapple Lemonade and Wheat Thins. The breakfast of champions, folks.

Listen or download.

Just discovered a nice appreciation of Tom that I hadn’t seen before. Recommended if you’re a fan.