Reading Larry King’s Truth Be Told (Viking Canada) is a bit like having an old relative over for dinner. Expect to be entertained, informed and wondering where all this is leading.
Truth be Told is a nostalgic look back at the interviewer’s remarkable 50-year broadcasting career, and his 25 years with Larry King Live, the longest-running show with the same host in television. He discusses the reasons behind his leaving his popular CNN show, as well as the marriage problems that were haunting him around the time of his departure.
But mostly he just sits back and does what he’s good at. Subtitled Off the Record about Favorite Guests, Memorable Moments, Funniest Jokes and A Half Century of Asking Questions, the book is filled with candid stories about many of the illustrious, famous and infamous people that King chatted with over the years, frequently digressing into humorous anecdotes before getting back on point.
He spends a few pages discussing the three interviews he’s had with one of his more controversial guests, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who he said was like interviewing a cagey lawyer.
King describes Ahmadinejad as a clever academic who “liked to answer my questions with questions.” He says the Iranian leader sidestepped the tough questions and would “take a fact that was unrepresentative of the larger truth and make it a convenient point.”
In the end, King says, it comes down to statements and actions. You can ignore him when he says there was no Holocaust and shake your head when he insists there are no gays in Iran. “But if he says that Israel should be eliminated, then it’s irresponsible to turn away.”
King talks about the Middle East and how he’s gotten to know all Israeli leaders since David Ben-Gurion and how Benjamin Netanyahu told him not to move to Israel. “You’ll get my job,” the Israeli prime minister quipped.
King also gives us some straight talk on lighter topics such as music, movies, broadcasting and comedians. He also talks about his final show and his replacement, Piers Morgan.
