UNDERFOOT IN SHOW BUSINESS <i> by Helene Hanff (Moyer Bell: $8.95) </i>

In this tongue-in-cheek autobiography, Helene Hanff, author of “84, Charing Cross Road” describes her life as an unsuccessful Broadway playwright during the ‘30s and ‘40s, and as a successful television writer during the ‘50s. (Hanff wrote for some of the best early TV shows, including “Playhouse 90” and “Hallmark Hall of Fame.”) Her witty prose evokes the era when Broadway was the unchallenged cynosure of American theater, and thousands of young people came to New York every year, hoping to get their big break.

In one of the most interesting chapters, Hanff follows the progress of “Oklahoma!” during its discouraging out-of-town tryouts under the title “Away We Go.” (After seeing a preview in Boston, an agent of Walter Winchell’s predicted the show would flop in an infamous telegram, “No Legs No Jokes No Chance.”)

A delightful memoir, similar in tone to some of Cornelia Otis Skinner’s theatrical reminiscences.