ALL MY BEST FRIENDS<i> By George Burns Written with David Fisher (Perigee: $9.95, illustrated) </i>

A memoir in the form of an extended monologue by the comedian who’s become America’s national paterfamilias. Having written at length about his wife and partner, Gracie Allen, George Burns turns his attention to his other great love, show business, a term that seems sadly dated. Burns gives a first-hand account of the evolution of popular entertainment, from vaudeville to film and radio to television. He writes with great affection about some of his fellow vaudevillians--Ed Wynn, Eddie Cantor, Fanny Brice, Harpo Marx and, especially, Jack Benny. But he was obviously less fond of Al Jolson, whom he describes as insufferably vain, and Groucho Marx, whose misanthropy offended him. With its leavening of ancient jokes, “Best Friends” is best read a little at a time, to preserve the aura of a visit to an ideal grandfather.