BOOKS The outlaw of radio speaks up and out Shock jock Howard Stern Cirgues with everyone -'from the FCC to his mOrT

By BILL GLOVIN 3pecial to the Daily Record 'I spent an entire miserable summer cooped up in Howard Stem's mother is on the basement writing the book.' telephone and reviewing her son's Howard Stern, on his book 'Miss Ame latest book - "Miss America" - to his 20 to 25 million listeners. ''This book isn't my son," she ernor of New York, which he aban- everything in the book has begins coldly. "I started to read it, doned when the courts rejected his talked about on his program. but 1 didn't get very far. How are appeal for exemption .from finan- Like "Private Parts," much you going to keep this from your cial disclosure laws. is a rehash - his conque daughters when they yet older?" To the disgust of his many WFAN rival Don Imus ,he asks him. critics, political candidates some- Philadelphia DJ John DeBelL For the next five minutes, times trample over one another to political views, his account c Momma Stern chastises her bad gain his endorsement. FCC's fining of K-Rock's p; little boy for the book's preo~cupa- tion with sex. Hooking ~ wagon to S~ern, ~?W-. company, Infinity Broadcal ever, sometunes results 1Il polJtlcal . his take on such celebriti{ Now 41 years old, Stern need not go to his room anymore when his .; fallout. ,", Woody Allen, the late J mother scolds him. From his radio ~, ~!:~.. , ~~r~ey .Gov, ChrIst~e Keimedy Onassis, and CNN ( . Whitman, whom Stern end.0rsed m Larry King. booth at WXRK in New York City, 1993, found herself adnft m a tur- The book works best when: he answers back. bulent sea of controver~y when s,he' provides insight on topics "Unlike my mother," he Howard Stern made good on her polJtlcal prOffilse eople we seldom hear a announces to his sidekick, Robin to name a South Jersey rest stop, ,P d' t: 'I b h" Quivers, "my daughters are going him resurface anc! dominate after Stern. ra 10.- amI, y m~m ers, IS ~ to besexuill beings. . morning drive-time at K-Rock, an Despl't e h'IS ra t'mgs an d" mone-.· meetmg WIth MIchael Jackso. "My mother's idea of a great FMstation. tary success over the past. 10 years, batt~e to conquer obseSSIve book is 'The Bridges of Madison ''Yes, it was a good feeling to Stern isn't nearly satisfied. . pulslve dIsorder .~nd, back County.' But she just saw the take down an entire radio station, . In "Miss America" he calls his, and hIS OpportuOltles m late· movie and' said she read the book. but 1knew it wasn't just Imus who drive to sl,lCceed"the beast within," te~~vi,sion, ,,,' , I didn't want to give my mother was bothering me," he writes in "I spent an entire miserable, Ml~S Ame~lca . also IS ('Miss America') because I knew it "Miss America." .''The truth was summer, cooped up in my base-' WIth lJ~erary gImmIcks to hoi wasn't for her.' But she was that there were a thousand Imuses mElnt writing the book," Stern reader s Interest: rude and insulted; she had to see for her- out there, all ripping off my mate- says. tore? photographs, ca~oons, self." rial and building careers off of my. One of the more interesting tratlOns, lett~rs from IIstenen Inching toward the boundary of style and approach to radio." . chapters in the book, "The King of pnnt fonts and type sIzes good taste he often crosses, Stern Besides radio, Stern always All Mental Illness" centers around mimic Mad magazine or a ra continues his teasing: seems to have plenty of other irons his fear of failing. The ch?pter:s' n:ote~ ., ' "This book isn't for you; it's for on the fire. title.is a spinoff on his $.W-pro-, Much ofthe book reads as my fails. And yes, all 1think about claImed pickname,' "King' ,of All, dictated' 'it into a tape reC( is sex. And all men think about .Film coming Media." . " ";'::.. ..: Many chapters are more women constantly; the wayl do: His radio program currently is In .the month or so since. the esting to browse through th He concludes his message of the broadcast in two half-hour formats Qook's release, the P.T Barnum of read, moment with this cutting com- six days a week on cable TVs E! publishing has appeared on "20- That's' why it's' difficu ment: "My mother wishes Jerry EntertaInment Network. And a 20," "Dateline NBC," "The Today believe Stern when he says: Seinfeld was her son and that my scri pt for a film based on his fir.)llj Show," "Entertainment Tonight," "I want to say that this b, book was about airplane food. Do book, "Private Parts," has be~n the ''Tonight Show" and ''The Late probably the one thing I'm me a favor, Mommy, .burn the completed. The film is scheduled to Show with David Le~terlPan," prt;>udof," book." . be released next year. , been the coverboy on vanous,mag- A ft;lwminutes later; when: The .exchange is both brutally Stern's popularity has even sky- azines, and has been featured in about his income - one of hiE honest and typical Stern. rocketed to the point where he has dozens,?f ,new,spaper articles, His favorite' topics - we gain Whether you love or hate him -: become a player in state and book slgmngm Manhattan, drew more insight. and few people are neutral on the national political campaigns. thousands of people, turned mto a "Enough is never enougl: subject - Stern certainly has Most political observers believe media carnival" and typifies the says. come a long way since 1982, when his endorsement helped decide the response he recelVes for an appear- It's .easier to belit;lve th, he entered the New YorklNew 1994 gubernatorial race in New ance. , . these days' of megabuck: Jersey market as hpst of the drive- York, vaulting Republican George But Stern as medla ph~mom~non celebrit bestsellers' Stern time afternoon program at WNBC-. Pataki over the dean ofDemocratic and broadcast personalJty works I d~ t' h'" AM. governors, Mario Cuomo. much better than his book. ellrne ow 0 cas m, Several years into his stint, "Miss America" also details his Fans· will not learn much new BILL GLOVIN is'senior editor ( WNBC fired him, then watched own short-lived candidacy for gov- from "Miss America"; almost gers Maga~ine,