On the Line: The New Road to the White House

King's brisk recap of the 1992 Presidential campaign as seen on talk-show televison offers few new insights. Rather, it is a lively account of a strange campaign in which Ross Perot announced his candidacy on King's own CNN show, Larry King Live , Bill Clinton played his saxophone on the Arsenio Hall Show and Jerry Brown offered his 800 phone number everywhere on the airwaves. King ( Tell It to the King ) argues that the high-ratings, miniseries-like, talk-show campaign was ``good for the process'' in that it created ``more interest in the candidates and the issues'' among distrustful voters seeking ``unfiltered'' talk. In a chatty, self-deprecating style (``Here I was, a guy from Brooklyn . . .''), King recounts each candidate's attitude toward and experience on the major talk shows. His cautionary note: politicians must not be allowed to ``circumvent'' tough questions by well-informed journalists on complex issues. (Nov.)