"Reporter," by Bob Jones (CreateSpace, $14.95)

You’re struck, while lapping up the pages of Bob Jones’ delicious book, by the difference between an autobiography and a memoir.

The former generally takes a just-the-facts-as-I-see-’em approach; the latter requires a certain distance, a point of view, a coloration of a life well spent. You get information from one, knowledge from the other.

This is a memoir, make no mistake, and don’t be put off by the apparent brevity of the work — Jones is a MidWeek columnist and former television reporter who knows how to make every word count. He’s also not telling a life story, but the tale of a career, a profession that drew him in like a siren and then shifted underfoot.

Those of us who were journalists get what he’s about. For others it’s a canny insight into what makes a reporter tick.

It pretty much boils down to restlessness and consuming curiosity. As a teenager Jones ran away from an abusive home and then spent the rest of his life balancing a certain hedonism and an altruistic streak disguised as relentless reportage.

He shone light into dark corners, ranging from crazy military officers in Germany to crooked deals in Hawaii, to championing the overlooked, particularly soldiers and average citizens. Although an armchair psychologist might have a field day with this, fellow journalists recognize the type.

What is different about Jones is his great good humor in all situations. He’s masterful at chuckling. He’s seen some pretty horrible things as a war correspondent and witnessed dreadful behavior backstage in network television, and — although he lurches from one career to another by getting fed up and quitting (usually when faced with impenetrable hypocrisy) — it doesn’t seem to have soured him.

"Reporter" is often funny. It also dishes up just enough gossip about well-known figures. The book rambles on breezily and is hard to put down.

Rambling, however, is a problem for "Reporter." Every writer needs an editor, not just to catch typos, but to keep the piece on track. Like most self-published works, Jones’ book could have used a trail boss to keep his literary wagons together. It keeps "Reporter" from having more punch. But it is sure fun getting there.

Burl Burlingame is curator of the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor and a former Honolulu Star-Advertiser staff writer.