ACTOR-DIRECTOR-SAGE ALDA SEEKS INSIGHTS IN HIS OWN WORDS HE HAS SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO SAY, BUT HE MAY BE NERVOUS ABOUT SAYIN IT.

Byline: EVAN HENERSON

>LA.COM 

Fear, says Alan Alda, is one honey of a motivator.

The bulk of the speeches and reflections covered in his latest book "Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself" were undertaken because the "M*A*S*H" actor and director couldn't initially imagine how he would pull them off.

"I get off on scaring myself," says Alda, 71, who will appear Monday at Borders in Westwood and sit down to talk with fellow author and "M*A*S*H*" star Mike Farrell Tuesday. "Interestingly, it's not just in giving talks, but when I act.

"The parts that give me the most pleasure are the ones where I'm sitting there reading it thinking, 'How am I going to be able to play this? If I took it, would I be able to do it?'

"I wasn't sure how I'd be able to do the part in 'The Aviator,' " he continues referring to his Oscar nominated turn as a hawkish Senator in the 2004 Martin Scorsese film, "and that turned out pretty well."

Indeed it did. In the same year, Alda was nominated for an Oscar, Emmy ("The West Wing") and a Tony award ("Glengarry Glenn Ross"). His memoir, "Never Have Your Dog Stuffed," became a best seller.

In "Things I Overheard," Alda returns to speeches he has given over the years, mining his own words for life wisdom and memories. LA.com spoke to the actor by phone from a book tour stop in Boston.

Are you still as much in demand for talks and lectures as your book would indicate?

I do get asked a lot, but I turn most of them down. I save myself for once or twice a year to give a really hard one. It does make me feel good when I can deliver the goods.

You do realize that once people read this book, the number of invitations you receive is going to go through the roof.

(Laughs) I never thought of that. I guess it's just going to mean more letters in which I say, "I'm sorry."

Can you talk about the origins of the book?

I didn't make it a book like a songwriter getting up and saying, "And then I wrote this little song that goes something like this..." These are not collections of things I said once so much as it's trying to comb through those things I said to find answers to this question: "What would give me a sense of meaning and lasting satisfaction?" And I know it's an odd question to ask since I've lived through some of the things that are supposed to give people meaning. Yet I'm still looking for it.

Going back over some of the talks you gave, did you come across anything you said that you no longer believe?

I did think twice about something I said. In the beginning, I was asking kids to find out what their values were and actually live by them, and lately it's been very clear to me that just having values is not necessarily a solution to anything if you have values that are destructive values. Terrorists are living by their values. People who ran the Inquisition lived by their values, and they didn't do many people very good. In the early days, I didn't really get that. I naively assumed that if you valued something, it would be positive and helpful to other people.

In "Things I Overheard..." you talk about "teaching myself to write." When did that process begin for you?

I've been trying to teach myself to write from the time I was 8. I wrote these little sketches that were imitations of burlesque sketches that I'd read on my father's desk. I'd put together a little magazine that that I printed on a mimeograph machine that I distributed in mailboxes. I fooled some people into thinking it was written by an adult. I wrote a play, a musical comedy in high school. I do think it takes a long time to learn how to write.

Is book writing something you find scary in the same way that preparing a role or a speech can be frightening?

A little bit. I went through second book-itis with this. The first one I felt had worked and it was a best seller, and I thought, "Will I be able to do this again?" And then as with all anxiety, I put it away in favor of doing it.

You and Mike Farrell will be reuniting Tuesday. Looking forward?

Most of this tour, I'm going around by myself talking about the book. Mike has also written a book, and someone got the idea of putting us together and talking about our books at the same time. He's written a good and successful book, and we probably look at things slightly differently. It will be fun to share stage just because it was such an important part of our lives we lived through together. We'll trade thoughts and probably trade some insulting jokes with each other.

Alan Alda will appear at 7 p.m. Monday at Borders Books, 1360 Westwood Blvd., and with Mike Farrell Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Los Angeles Central Library. [phone]. The library event is full. Standby begins one hour ahead at the door. www.aloudla.com.

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Alan Alda's second book, "Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself," mines his own speeches in search of pearls of real wisdom.

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