None But a Blockhead

""No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money,'' said Samuel Johnson, and Larry King concurs with this proclamation as he depicts the difficulties and rewards of the seemingly romantic profession of freelance writing. King, a Texas journalist who won fame and riches with The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (a play written with Peter Masterson and Carol Hall), delivers anecdotal reflections on his career in three segments. The first section is a forthright, humorous account of assorted assignments for Harper's, Time, the Nation, Sports Illustrated, Playboy, etc.; various book proposals (both delivered and abandoned); and family forays. Part two consists of loosely composed pieces on topics ranging from working habits to word processors and creative-writing seminars. Eight rambunctious magazine pieces comprise the final chapters. While King never fails to entertain and enlighten, this hodgepodge of material hastily compiled for publication is, ironically, often sloppy, at times offensively ungrammatical. February