Brian Jay Jones is an award-winning biographer and vice president of Biographers International Organization. Jones is a devoted member of the Jim Henson generation, having been two years old when Sesame Street premiered in 1969 and nine when The Muppet Show debuted in 1976. A former policy analyst and advisor in the U.S. Senate, Jones abandoned politics for the pen in 2008, with the publication of his award-winning biography, Washington Irving. He lives with his wife and dog in Virginia. His favorite Muppet is Rowlf (thanks for asking).
“Jim Henson vibrantly delves into the magnificent man and his
Muppet methods: It’s an absolute must-read!”—Neil Patrick
Harris
“An exhaustive work that is never exhausting, a credit both to
Jones’s brisk style and to Henson’s exceptional life . . . Brian
Jay Jones tells the story of how Henson turned a quaint art form
into an entertainment empire.”—The New York Times
“[A] sweeping portrait that is a mix of humor, mirth and
poignancy.”—Washington Independent Review of Books
“Superlative . . . Jones draws upon new interviews with family and
friends, reams of archival material, and Henson’s own journals to
provide a nuanced study of a preternaturally gifted, relentlessly
driven artist.”—Los Angeles Review of Books
“A meticulously researched tome chock-full of gems about the
Muppets and the most thorough portrait of their creator ever
crafted.”—Associated Press
“Jim was one of my closest friends. And yet I found out things
about him in Jim Henson that were new to me. Brian Jay Jones has
captured the layers of Jim’s genius and humanity, as well as the
flaws that made Jim, like all of us, so delightfully imperfect. I
thank Brian for giving Jim life again. This book has captured the
spirit of Jim Henson.”—Frank Oz
“Illuminating . . . As Jones expertly shows, Henson remained
throughout his life an artist who was continuously in motion,
conceiving, pitching, and managing multiple projects at once.”—The
Atlantic
“Consistently surprises . . . Highly readable and never long-winded
(even at nearly 600 pages), Jim Henson joyously documents its
subject’s knack for combining old-fashioned puppetry with the
world’s newest entertainment medium to forge a kind of furry,
felt-covered vaudeville.”—The Wall Street Journal
“This is a biography that earns the label definitive.”—The Dallas
Morning News
“An insightful look at the gentle artist.”—Parade
“Compulsively readable . . . evocative . . . Much
has been written about Henson—during his life and after—but nothing
with the same sense of authority and access as Jim Henson: The
Biography.”—The A.V. Club
“There are so many enjoyable aspects to this book that it’s hard to
know where to start. . . . Jim Henson: The Biography is a fantastic
story of a brilliant life cut short, but it can also be read as a
blueprint for following your bliss.”—BookPage
“Jim Henson: The Biography feels comprehensive without bogging
down; it will keep readers turning pages and enjoying every scene
from Henson’s life.”—Shelf Awareness
“Sure to be savored for its exhaustive look at the late
Muppet-master.”—Variety
“Masterful . . . Jones continually shows that Henson left the world
a better place, which serves as the book's theme. . . . [Jim
Henson] can be enjoyed by readers of more than one
generation.”—Kirkus Reviews
“The story of the innovative puppeteer’s life that Muppets
completists have been waiting for . . . The section on Henson’s
death and funeral is one of the best parts of the book—moving and
elegiac. I dare you not to cry.”—Hollywood Reporter
“[Brian Jay Jones’s] lucid style, wide-angle perspective, and deep
immersion in Henson’s exuberantly innovative approach to puppets,
television, and film make for a thoroughly compelling read. . . .
With verve and insight, Jones illuminates the full scope of
Henson’s genius, phenomenal productivity, complex private life,
zeal to do good, and astronomical influence.”—Booklist (starred
review)
“Brings to light a spirit of love, warmth, wit, and so much
more.”—Library Journal
“The book’s most engrossing passages explore the extraordinary
technical demands of creating naturalistic puppet spectacles in the
age before computer graphics: ‘performing’ a Muppet was an
intricate, almost contortionistic dance of two puppeteers crammed
into a single sleeve. . . . A fascinating making-of
documentary.”—Publishers Weekly
“I loved it. Brian Jay Jones vividly portrays Jim’s journey, and
also the intersecting journeys of his colleagues and friends. In
spite of the fact that Jim and I worked together closely for many
years, there were compartments of Jim’s life that I hadn’t known
about before. I was completely involved and couldn’t put the book
down. A tremendous job.”—Dave Goelz, Muppet performer (Gonzo,
Boober Fraggle, Bunsen Honeydew)
“This is not only a superb biography for the Jim Henson and Muppet
fans but also a sensitively written portrayal of a great and unique
human being that will fascinate any and all readers.”—Fran Brill,
actress, Sesame Street performer
“Brian Jay Jones, in this marvelous tale of struggle and triumph,
tells us how and why Jim Henson and his Muppets have rightly
assumed their places in the pantheon of American creative geniuses
alongside Walt Disney and Mickey, and Dr. Seuss and the Cat in the
Hat.”—Paul Reid, co-author of The Last Lion: Winston Spencer
Churchill—Defender of the Realm
“Every Muppet fan has wondered who was behind the wide-mouthed,
bug-eyed, furry creatures. Before now all we had was a credit line:
Jim Henson. Now, with Brian Jay Jones’s riveting Jim Henson, we
have a nuanced portrait of the puppeteer—part genius inspired by
his Mississippi Delta roots and his Christian Science faith, part
flawed human with tastes too rich in everything from his art and
cars to his women—that brings new understanding of and empathy for
an icon of American popular culture.”—Larry Tye, author of Satchel
and Superman
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