For the right reader, yes: Joseph McLellan of The Washington Post called it a very entertaining book, and he singled out its frankness about 1971. The caveat is thin independent commentary, since McLellan's is the only review we found, so claims about prose quality or structure rest on little. Treat it as a pleasant period memoir rather than a proven standout.

It is written for adults, a celebrity radio memoir rather than a book for young readers. No review we found flags content that would restrict it, and no source gives a minimum age.

Larry King, born Larry Zeiger in Brooklyn, is the figure whose story it tells, and Emily Yoffe is credited as co-writer. We have no independently verified biography of either author beyond what the book and its reviews establish. Yoffe's role is as collaborator on the telling of King's life.

Larry King

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Emily Yoffe

About This Author

Reviewed

October 31, 2026

Read Time

6 min read

Age & reading levelAdult

$25.68 on Amazon

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Larry King by Larry King and Emily Yoffe

Larry King by Larry King Review: A 1982 Broadcasting Memoir

by Larry King, Emily Yoffe

Larry King, written with Emily Yoffe, is the radio host's memoir of Brooklyn roots and a late-night career, not a conversation how-to. The Washington Post's Joseph McLellan called it a very entertaining book; wider critical reception is thin.

$25.68 on Amazon

Adultfinancial ruin and public embarrassment

LuvemBooks Verdict

Best for

Readers who enjoy broadcasting history and chatty, anecdote-driven celebrity memoir, and who want to see Larry King's radio years before CNN fame.

Worth it if

Worth reading if you want an entertaining, candid pre-CNN account of King's rise, fall and second rise as a late-night radio host, told with co-writer Emily Yoffe.

Skip if

Skip it if you want conversation tips or self-improvement steps, or any account of the CNN years, since this 1982 memoir covers neither and little independent criticism exists to vouch for its writing.

What readers & critics say

The one critical review we found leans positive: The Washington Post's Joseph McLellan calls it "a very entertaining book" and notes it deals openly with King's 1971 financial disgrace. Beyond that, no review we found weighs in on the prose, structure or ending.

“this Larry King, who talks a very entertaining book, blew it all a long time ago”

— washingtonpost.com

Sources: The Washington Post

Ask LuvemBooks

Was this helpful?

Larry King is the 1982 memoir of the Brooklyn-born radio host, written with Emily Yoffe, and it catches his career before CNN made him a household name. It is a chatty, candid look at his radio years that suits celebrity-memoir readers, but it offers no conversation technique and nothing on his television era.

Is it worth reading?: For the right reader, yes: Joseph McLellan of The Washington Post called it a very entertaining book, and he singled out its frankness about 1971. The caveat is thin independent commentary, since McLellan's is the only review we found, so claims about prose quality or structure rest on little. Treat it as a pleasant period memoir rather than a proven standout.
Similar books: Truly by Lionel Richie is another showbiz memoir built on anecdote from a famous career. The Autobiography of Malcolm X, written with Alex Haley, is a far weightier life story told with a co-writer, as this one is with Emily Yoffe. Upstairs at the White House by J. B. West and Mary Lynn Kotz gives an insider's behind-the-scenes view of famous people. If you want King's separate advice title, How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere is a different book.
Who should read this?: It suits readers who like entertaining personal storytelling, especially anyone curious about King before CNN. It also appeals to people who enjoy name-dropping celebrity anecdotes, given the roster of figures in its pages. It is a poor fit for anyone wanting interviewing tips.
What age is it for?: It is written for adults, a celebrity radio memoir rather than a book for young readers. No review we found flags content that would restrict it, and no source gives a minimum age.
Is this the same as King's advice book?: No. This 1982 memoir is separate from How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere, and a blogger's review of that advice title does not describe this one. Practical tips such as open-ended questions or cutting filler words belong to the later book, not this memoir.
What are the main themes?: The memoir centers on a Brooklyn upbringing, a rise through radio, and a fall and recovery, with McLellan highlighting the financial troubles that became public in 1971. Index terms like Open Phone, hostages and three scoops point to on-air stories, though no review we found explains them.
Who wrote it?: Larry King, born Larry Zeiger in Brooklyn, is the figure whose story it tells, and Emily Yoffe is credited as co-writer. We have no independently verified biography of either author beyond what the book and its reviews establish. Yoffe's role is as collaborator on the telling of King's life.

Summarize this book

Is it worth reading?

Who should read this?

What age is it for?

Is this the same as King's advice book?

What are the main themes?

Who wrote it?

Summarize this book

This is an autobiography of the man born Larry Zeiger in Brooklyn, told with co-writer Emily Yoffe in a 207-page Simon & Schuster hardcover. It follows his path into radio, including Miami stations WIOD and WTVJ and a stop in Shreveport, and lands on his midnight-to-dawn show on the Mutual Radio Network. Joseph McLellan of The Washington Post says it also deals with 1971, when King's dire finances and how he handled them became front-page news.

Follow up

Does it cover his family background?

Where does the story stop?

Synthesized from verified book data & published reviews · How we review

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Our Review

We review the evidence: published critics, reader verdicts and BookTube reviews, gathered and weighed with AI assistance and edited by LuvemBooks, rather than one reader's first-hand take.

Worth reading for anyone curious about the man behind the microphone, though it is a talk-show host's memoir, not a how-to, and a 1982 snapshot of a career that was still climbing.

Is Larry King by Larry King and Emily Yoffe worth reading?

The 1982 Simon & Schuster hardcover is an autobiography written with Emily Yoffe, running 207 pages. It was published when King was the voice of a midnight-to-dawn radio show on the Mutual Radio Network, years before his CNN fame.

This is not the better-known advice book that carries a similar name. A blogger who reviewed How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere is describing a different title, so those tips and chapters should not be attributed to this volume.

Treat the 1982 memoir on its own terms.

Weighing the sources, the book points toward readers who like broadcasting history and entertaining personal storytelling. It points away from anyone wanting conversational technique or self-improvement steps.

What does the Larry King memoir cover?

The record places King's origins in Brooklyn, where he was born Larry Zeiger, and follows him into radio. Search-index text from the book names Miami stations WIOD and WTVJ, Shreveport, Brooklyn, his mother and father, and his Jewish upbringing.

The same text lists a roster of names that surface in its pages, among them Lenny Bruce, Mel Brooks, Milton Berle, Frank Sinatra, Mike Wallace, Richard Nixon and Sandy Koufax. The index also lists terms like "hostages," "Open Phone" and "three scoops," which hint at on-air stories, though the held material does not explain them.

Book dealers describe a first edition, first printing hardcover, with one seller's listing noting that the copy is inscribed by the author. That is a collectible detail about copies, not about the content.

What did critics find in Larry King?

Joseph McLellan of The Washington Post, the paper's music critic, reviewed it and described King as talking a very entertaining book. The held excerpt is short, so the fuller verdict is not on hand.

McLellan also frames King's image problem: it was damaged, he writes, in 1971, when his dire finances and the ways he dealt with them became front-page news. That candour about a low point suggests the book does not stick purely to the glossy side of a broadcasting career.

Beyond that one review, the held material offers little independent critical commentary on this specific title, so strong claims about its writing quality or ending would go beyond what reviewers have said.

Who gets the most from Larry King, and who should skip it?

The encyclopedia entry on King attributes his success to a genuine, listening-first style: a U.S. News and World Report writer is quoted there saying he drew questions from what he heard and checked his ego at the studio door. If that interviewing approach interests you, a memoir that predates his television fame is a plausible place to see its origins.

Collectors have a separate reason to care. Dealers list the 1982 first printing at prices from under ten dollars for a used copy to around forty dollars for an inscribed one, depending on condition.

The main caution is that this is not a skills manual. Anyone who arrives wanting practical communication tips, such as open-ended questions or cutting filler words, will find those in his later advice book, not here, according to the reviewers of that other title.

The publishing history matters too: a 1982 memoir stops decades before King's later career, so it cannot speak to the CNN years that made him a household name.

Sources & Further Reading

The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.

Cited in this review
1
Larry King, Larry King, Emily Yoffe. (Hardcover 0671411381)
paperbackswap.com
Further reading
2
A Kingly Apology - The Washington Post
washingtonpost.com
3
Books by Larry L. King and Complete Book Reviews
publishersweekly.com
4
Larry King by Larry King, Emily Yoffe on Ground Zero Books, Ltd
groundzerobooksltd.com
5
LARRY KING | Emily Yoffe Larry King | First Edition; First Printing
rarebookcellar.com
6
Larry King by Larry King,Emily Yoffe | Hardcover | August 1982 | Simon & Schuster | 9780671411381 | Biblio
biblio.com
7
King, Larry 1933- | Encyclopedia.com
encyclopedia.com
8
#WeReadBooks | How To Talk To Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere - The Secrets of Good Communication by Larry King & 5 Things I Learned | Barbara & 1923. B
barbara1923.com
9
Book Review: How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere – The Secrets of Good Communication | Blogcritics
blogcritics.org
10
Larry King - Larry King, Emily Yoffe - Google Books
books.google.com
11
Larry King : King, Larry, Yoffe, Emily: Amazon.es: Books
amazon.es

Age & Reading Level

Recommended age

Adult

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1 content note · who it suits

Content to know about

financial ruin and public embarrassment

Skip if you want conversation tips, self-improvement steps, or any account of King's CNN years

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Where the memoir tells the story of King's life on air, this book explains the method behind it: how he drew out presidents, celebrities, and strangers with simple, direct questions. It is the more hands-on of the two, full of usable tips on small talk, interviews, and public speaking. Best for readers who liked the broadcaster's voice and want something they can apply in their own conversations.

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A warm, anecdote-driven memoir from another entertainer whose career ran parallel to King's across the same decades of American fame.

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An insider's decades-long account of the presidents and first ladies King spent his career interviewing, seen from inside their home.

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