Because of a carefully honed publicity machine, and through savvy marketing, millions of rabid Seinfeld fans are convinced that the TV Jerry and the real-life Jerry are one and the same. But that's not the case.

From the time Jerry was a lonely, bashful, introverted kid hiding out in his blue plaid-wallpapered bedroom in his parents' modest house on Long Island in the 1960s, he had an unlikely dream: To become one of America's best-known and most popular standup comics ever. Home alone, he watched his comedic idols on a small, fuzzied-image black-and-white TV, or listened to them on his scratchy portable hi-fi -- Abbott and Costello, Bill Cosby, among others.

Seinfeld: The Making of an American Icon is the never-before-told story of how Jerry made his dream come true-of how this very ambitious, extremely driven, compulsively perfectionistic son of a Jewish sign peddler who once hustled bogus holy water from Lourdes 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, and how he went on to cocreate in the late 80s what is considered to be the most brilliant and successful must-see TV sitcom in the history of the medium.

From the start, Jerry has been extremely private about all aspects of his personal life. But now this very complex and enigmatic funnyman is revealed, sometimes as loving, compassionate, and sensitive, other times as dark and steely. But always fascinating.

For more than a year, bestselling investigative biographer Jerry Oppenheimer conducted in-depth interviews with scores of Jerry'sclosest friends, family members, business associates, lovers, and fellow comedians who spoke candidly and on the record for the first time, painting a riveting portrait of the beloved and talented comedian.

This is a book about Seinfeld the man, not Seinfeld the show. It also is a sweeping look at the very serious, often degrading big-money world of standup comedy and network TV, where some die and others, like Jerry Seinfeld, become royalty. Seinfeld: The Making of an American Icon is no laughing matter.