"Laughter is a faculty that supposedly separates us from the beasts. But there is such a thing as a comedy animal, and Dennis Perrin has netted him with great aplomb. Humor, in the right hands, is no laughing matter."--Christopher Hitchens"Awfully entertaining...Perrin is savvy enough to give us large helpings of the man's work, both long-remembered sketches and never-performed gems."--The Boston Phoenix"Clever, entertaining, and comprehensive...MR. MIKE is strong stuff."--Booklist (Starred review)Michael O'Donoghue's widely influential style of humor spared no one's feelings or sensitivities. John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, P.J. O'Rourke, Buck Henry, Dough Kenney--all these great comic minds and many more were affected by the acid wit of Mr. Mike. Now, critic and humorist Dennis Perrin examines the times that formed this singular sensibility and the outrageous creative work that constitutes O'Donoghue's legacy, from his early days devising confrontational theatre pieces and the brilliant underground comic Phoebe Zeit-Geist to an unprecedented string of famous and infamous pieces in National Lampoon, from O'Donoghue's breathtaking stint as the key founding writer of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE to his tumultuous adventures in Hollywood. Here too is never-before-seen O'Donoghue material, some of it censored by editors or TV executives, made public here for the first time. This is the unvarnished story of a towering figure in American popular culture, the prime artistic force behind an entire generation of humorists and satirists. Here is the singular, sinister MR. MIKE.