Arsenio Hall

Aficionados of Hall's talk show will snap up this light, readable history. King ( Everybody Loves Oprah ) affects a tell-all approach, but in fact has produced a hero-worshipping biography. Nonetheless, he provides a factual account of Hall's Cleveland childhood, scarred by battles between his incompatible parents, a rigid clergyman and a witty, tolerant health-care worker, who separated when their son was in grade school. King also covers Hall's college years at Kent State, his apprenticeship as a magician and later a comic, his friendship with movie star Eddie Murphy. The performer's youthful dream of emulating Johnny Carson became reality in 1989 when he began hosting his own talk show, a fast-moving, hip program that has become a major attraction of the post-prime-time hours. King includes lengthy quotes from Hall's unbuttoned exchanges with guests that vividly demonstrate the show's appeal; his own prose tends more toward hackneyed descriptions (the studio audience greets Hall's first program with ``a frenzy of jubilation''), overstated metaphors (Carson's departure is ``an earthquake of unprecedented proportions'') and similar forays into show-biz hype. Photos not seen by PW . ( Jan. )