cover image Too Much is Not Enough

Too Much is Not Enough

Orson Bean. St. Martin's Press, $14.95 (207pp) ISBN 978-0-8184-0465-8

In this amusing, moving and, at times, alarming autobiography, Bean (born Dallas Burrows) recalls suffering a mid-life crisis at age 52, then suddenly being surprised by an inexplicable joy that induced him to examine and right the direction of his life. Born in Vermont in l928, he grew up in a troubled home in Cambridge, Mass., where, when he was 16, his mother committed suicide. Leaving home, he adopted his show-biz name, went on the road with his magic/comedy routines, became famous for his agile wit and charm, and starred on stage and TV. Along the way, he married and divorced, remarried, had four children and divorced again. Then this self-styled dropout experimented with group sex and LSD to deadening effect. But now the ever-spunky Bean is back on track, he assures us, pursuing his boyhood goal ``to be the happiest S.O.B. who ever lived.'' His book is so disarming the reader hopes he makes it. (June)