Name dropping

by Alan King

"This is not going to be a tell-all book. My few dark secrets I'm taking to my grave," Alan King, ne Irwin Alan Kniberg, assures us. Instead, this is the story of how a son of Russian immigrants - who came to this country in steerage - grew up to live in a mansion that had been built for Oscar Hammerstein. Dropping names whenever possible, he tells terrific stories about Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Charlie Chaplin, Judy Garland, Billy Crystal, the Kennedys, and dozens of other friends famous and not so famous. His life in comedy and show business takes us on a glorious journey from the Borscht Belt to early success at the Palace Theater and all the way thorough to the recent Martin Scorsese film Casino. Along the way we learn a great deal about a man who still thinks of himself as two people, Alan King and Irwin Kniberg, who wins our hearts because that kid Irwin is, as he confesses, "still inside there, desperate to do something, to be somebody."