"Live From New York" by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller

Without Michaels' cooperation, "Live From New York" probably never would have been completed, and this realization makes such passages uncomfortable reading. Yes, the book is "uncensored," and to their credit Shales and Miller allow Michaels' detractors -- such as Chris Elliott and Janeane Garofalo --to tee off. Says Jane Curtin, "I think [Michaels] picked the right profession, because he gets to lord over people who want to kneel at his feet and he doesn't acknowledge them -- which makes them work harder."

However, Michaels' insights are invaluable to the book, and surely his participation signaled to others inside the tight-knit "SNL" world that it was OK to cooperate with the authors. (As for no-shows, Eddie Murphy is the biggest star who refused to cooperate with Shales and Miller.)

Throughout the show's impressive 27-year run, which includes more than 500 episodes (and what must be close to 3,000 skits), the behind-the-scenes story of "SNL" has always been about how a group of frighteningly talented and often highly insecure people scrambled to land precious on-camera time each week. Seeing your skit get cut between dress rehearsal and the live show or being relegated to extra roles (assigned by Michaels, the gatekeeper) could send an ambitious but underused cast member spiraling into depression. "There was no job I could imagine having to do that would have been more difficult than returning to the show," recalls Julia Sweeney, who quit with one year left on her contract after being virtually banished from "SNL" during her final season.

"The whole place was just full of the most insidious mind games," recalls former cast member Harry Shearer.

While that dark cloud permeates the book, it does not dominate. Instead, "Live From New York" usually finds itself marveling at the show as Shales and Miller uncover all sorts of untold or overlooked nuggets. For example, Dan Aykroyd was just 23 years old when he landed his role on "SNL." Billy Crystal's "Fernando's Hideaway" sketches were completely improvised; no scripts were ever prepared. "Seinfeld" collaborator Larry David managed to get just one of his skits on the air while working as an "SNL" writer back in the '80s. The priceless 1979-80 season employed only six cast members; the forgettable 1994-95 season carried 17. Host Mel Gibson pitched nervous "SNL" writers on a "Brideshead Revisited" spoof called "Bird's Head Regurgitated." They passed.

Of course, oral histories are all about recollections, and "Live From New York" captures page after page of witty and wonderful ones:

Writer Fred Wolf recalling the time rotund cast member Chris Farley broke up with an "SNL" staffer who then, unbeknownst to Farley, started dating Steve Martin: "Farley said, 'Well, she may find somebody better looking than me, or she might find somebody richer than me, but she's not going to find anybody funnier than me.' And what I couldn't tell him was, he was wrong on all three accounts. Steve Martin was richer, better looking and even funnier."

Laraine Newman on the backstage brawl that broke out between Chevy Chase and Bill Murray when Chase came back to host for the first time: "It culminated with Billy saying to Chevy, 'Why don't you fuck your wife once in a while?'"

Eccentric staff writer Michael O'Donoghue on his refusal to collaborate with the early, now forgotten "SNL" muppets: "I don't write for felt."

Jane Curtin on her star-crossed colleague's demise: "When John [Belushi] started making too much money and started doing too many drugs, the sweet John was gone, and the ambitious John took over. His ambition was just overwhelming, as was his need to self-medicate."

Writer Alan Zweibel on his job interview with Michaels back in the '70s: "He says, 'How much money do you need to live?' I said, 'Well, I'm making $2.75 an hour at the deli -- match it.'"

Frequent "SNL" host Tom Hanks, on tricks of the trade: "The secret of being the host of the show is to concern yourself only with the monologue. Because if you have a good monologue, everybody thinks the entire show was great."

Another "SNL" host fixture, Alec Baldwin, on sucking up to the cast: "You're standing next to some guy one day doing the show, and you turn around and five years later they're getting paid $20 million in a movie. So now, no matter who I work with, no matter what a sniveling, drooling wuss they are, I embrace them all like they're my dearest friend and my most respected colleague."

It's telling that Baldwin views today's "SNL" as a career vehicle. He's not alone. But as "Live From New York" documents, the touchstone show once aspired to be much more.

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