BY JACK LECHNER

CROWN PUBLISHERS

274 PAGES, $20.95

In "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You," Jack Lechner, a former Miramax executive, writes about a week he spent watching 12 TV sets for 15 hours a day.

Lechner's idea isn't new: In 1967, a New Yorker named Charles Sopkin wrote a book called "Seven Glorious Days, Seven Fun-Filled Nights" about watching six televisions for a week. But Lechner - with his entertainment connections and vivid memories of too many hours spent watching TV as a kid - is the right person to update the Sopkin book.

Lechner learns a lot about the current state of pop culture, American society and about himself as he chronicles the week in September 1999 when he brought the 12 sets and the fascinating, frenetic, perverted, compelling world of all-TV, all-the-time into his home. His observations are informative, funny and, at times, poignant.

The net (and cable) result: Lechner writes, "As in Charles Sopkin's day, 90 percent of what's on television is crap." But this book just might enable readers to identify the remaining 10 percent.