Anything Goes! : What I've Learned from Pundits, Politicians, and Presidents (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Pat Piper (Author) "July 20, 1988. I'm sitting in a CNN booth overlooking the floor of the Omni Arena in Atlanta..." (more)
Key Phrases: electronic town hall, floor director, White House, Bill Clinton, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As this collection of anecdotal, behind-the-scenes moments demonstrates, talk-show maven King enjoys incredible access to newsmakers. Indeed, private conversations with President Clinton and other high-level people help drive this breezy, entertaining book. King takes readers to a series of scenesDthe Democratic National Convention in Atlanta in 1988, his TV studio in January 1992 after Clinton's famous appearance on 60 Minutes, and Miami in 1958, where King accidentally hit a car driven by a man named John F. Kennedy, who asked for King's vote in two years when he would run for president. With his customary down-to-earth simplicity, King offers his thoughts on such matters as Clinton's political tenure ("He stayed on course despite 'bimbo eruptions'") and racism ("The [O.J.] verdict proved racism is quiet") and small glimpses of the famous, like JFK Jr. and Marlon Brando. The momentary snapshots of personalities and thoughts, along with juicy snippets from his show (for instance, how Ross Perot came to say he might be a candidate for president in 1992, followed by the debate King hosted in which Gore decimated Perot), don't add up to much, but it's a quick and easy summary of some of the major events of the last decade. King has a huge fan base. This book will be a mighty bestseller. (Nov. 3)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Larry King has been something of a Zelig during the years of his CNN television program, popping up in the middle of whatever crisis was riveting viewers to their screens: the O. J. trial, the Lewinsky scandal, the death of JFK Jr. Since King (and his panel of talking heads) is ubiquitous during the playing out of all the big stories, it would follow that he might be able to bring some particular insight into the events and the players involved. Apparently not. King takes readers on a whirlwind tour of the last eight years or so and manages to add absolutely nothing to the big picture. Covering himself in his familiar mantel of humble Brooklyn boy made good, King seems to take particular pride in pointing out, at almost every opportunity, that he has no news sense. His first look at Bill Clinton? "Keep your day job, pal." The O. J. case: "I knew one thing: while it was a major homicide case, it was going to be a two, maybe three-day story." If the book fails to give us the big picture, however, it does add details to the small picture. Like King's USA Today column, his latest tome is a name-dropper's delight, and followers of the show who saw the Gore-Perot debate or the infamous interviews with Marlon Brando will enjoy the behind-the-scenes look at the action. The title refers to how the world has loosened up in the last decade or so, but it could apply equally to the rise of Larry King. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446525286
• ISBN-13: 978-0446525282
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,786,638 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The King of TV Talk Continues to Reign, November 1, 2000

By	Dick Rossé "movie geek" (Bethany Beach, DE USA) - See all my reviews

Kudos to Larry King (and Pat Piper) for their riveting account of the rich, famous and powerful during the final, tumultuous decade of the late (and unlamented) century. While "Anything Goes" provides fascinating insight into the lives of Washington's movers and shakers, it also gives a good glimpse of the talkmeister king himself, just a "poor kid from Brooklyn" embued with a rare gift of knowing whom to talk to, when, and what to ask. "Anything Goes" is a great chronicle of one of the most topsy-turvy periods in American history. It's also enormously entertaining.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Undecided..., March 7, 2003

By	Christina Borsum (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Larry King is usually the background noise during dinner time in my (single) household so I pretend that I know him rather well. So when I started the book I expected the wise and experienced uncle to provide some wisdom and tell me about invaluable experiences. Well, it did not live up to that, especially in the first half of the book. But every now and again - moreso towards the end - I could hear him saying what he was writing. Much in the beginning just does not sound like him.

The books offers a great overview of what moved the media during the 90ies: so, here is your entertaining history lesson - not entirely comprehensive but certainly the basics for the media small talk. He does not show off, he is honest with himself and he displays the very down-to-earth side of himself. Maybe it just lacks more wicked, unheard-of experiences that I expected to get a better rating. You got to have this "wise uncle at 9 PM EST" with him to like the book.

1.0 out of 5 stars Disapointed, December 19, 2002

By	John G. Hilliard (Toronto Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book reminded me of a collage term paper being done at the last minute when you increase the font size and margins to try and stretch the meager text to the length requirement. I have never been a big fan of his interview show, but I was hoping given the amount of time he has been at it, he would have some interesting "during the break" type of stories from his guests. It turned out that this was not the case.

I would like to say that I enjoyed this book or at least found parts interesting or well written, but that would not be honest. I had to keep reading given it was the only book I had on a 9 hour flight. How can someone that has interviewed so many interesting and influential people over the years have this little to say? Thank goodness for the professional writer he hired or who knows if we would have even had complete sentences to read. Overall the book was dull, no insights and barely anything interesting.