TVSquad

Anyone who's seen or heard Larry King over the last quarter-century or so (which includes just about everyone who has cable TV) knows that he's been known to tell tales of his life that are, to put it charitably, less than true. Big surprise from a guy who's been married seven times and pleaded no contest to passing bad checks in the early Seventies, right?

Anyway, with the release of King's new book, which is full of stories from his past, it seems like it's again time for journalists to point out that -- gasp! -- King makes some of his stories up. Jack Shafer in Slate, for instance, has decided to bring up King's claims that he knew Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax when the two of them were growing up in Brooklyn, a story that even Shafer acknowledges was refuted by Koufax himself... way back in 1991.

So why bring this up again? Does anyone think that even half of the stories King tells in his book are true? I certainly don't. But I bet it would be an entertaining read, just from the "calling bullshit" factor.

In fact, you could make a drinking game from the audio version; just pop it into your CD player or download it to your iPod and have a drink every time King says "this is a true story," usually an indicator that he's telling a fish tale. Let's just say that if you start playing the game, don't plan on driving for the rest of the day.

Maybe Jon Stewart should read Shafer's article, by the way. It seems like he believes that everything in King's book is true, judging by his very funny interview with King last night on The Daily Show (video is also here). At least he jokingly called King a "degenerate," which seems to fit Larry perfectly. By the way, the last question and answer in the interview is one of the funniest exchanges I've seen on a talk show in quite a while.