Audition: A Memoir | Barbara Walters | Hats Off to the Incredible Barbara Walters

Audition: A Memoir | Barbara Walters | Audition

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Audition: A Memoir

	Audition: A Memoir Barbara Walters Knopf, 2008 - 624 pages average customer review:based on 242 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Hats Off to the Incredible Barbara Walters

In the Prologue of this fascinating memoir, Barbara Walters explains that one of her motivations for writing about her life was that young people starting out in television sometimes said to her: "I want to be you." Barbara's stock reply was: "Then you have to take the whole package."

In Audition, Barbara brilliantly reveals her "whole package," including the love mixed with resentment she felt toward her mentally challenged sister Jackie, her "rags to riches" childhood inspired by her brilliant and mercurial impresario of a father, her frustrated and conflicted mother, her amazing career in television, the adoption of her beloved daughter Jackie whose teen years were tumultuous, and yes, her three marriages and many more affairs.

I have always liked Barbara's blunt approach: getting personal with the hundreds of ordinary (and often infamous) people, politicians, and show-biz celebrities she interviewed. I had fantasized a career in television during its infancy in the 1950s, but like so many other women of my era, thought my gender (among other things) would make it impossible. So I chose to read Audition, to help me learn what I had missed. I applaud Barbara Walters for her achievements and for having the chutzpah to tell her readers more than just the glamorous parts of her life story. My only complaint is that each time Walters mentioned an interview she'd done with world leaders, I wanted to see it again. (At the end of her book, I did note that some of her interviews are being broadcast on Sirius radio, so they are still available.)

In a recent interview, Oprah Winfrey asked Walters: "What does being "Barbara Walters" mean?" Walters' answer illustrates what I thought was special about her memoir--her ability to get personal and tell the truth without mincing words:

"I'm not sure. I realize how blessed I have been but sometimes I still feel inadequate. I don't cook. I can't drive. Most of the time, when I look back on what I've done, I think: Did I do that? Why didn't I enjoy it more? Was I working too hard to see?"

Oprah's eyes teared up at this. She and every other hard-working woman of this era know all that they've had to give up in order to achieve.

The overall lesson from Barbara Walter's fine book: be conscious of the price you'll pay for success in any arena, including motherhood--and if this is still what you want, go for it.

by Donna Van Straten Remmert
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

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Audition

A fabulous read...Ms. Walters shares her extraordinary life with readers and leaves you spellbound. Very interesting.

Way too short!

I have been a fan since before the 20/20 days and I know that there has to be hundreds more stories to relate. This was a delight to read and I was pleased to hear about the horrors of her early years in broadcasting...we have come a long way. I was sad to see it end.
A delightful and insightful read!

My thoughts on it

I am very pleased with my book I ordered and received it in record time.
Thanks

Early years of clubs was interesting

This was the first book I purchased on my Kindle. I hesitated to get it because I had seen so many interviews on TV that I thought there would be nothing more to learn. I'm glad I got it. I especially enjoyed reading about her father's clubs. The references to Carol Channing, one of my all time favorites, were much enjoyed. I also remember Senor Wences from Ed Sullivan and reading about him brought back fond memories. My one regret is the pictures are difficult to view on Kindle, but that is more a criticism of Kindle. If you enjoy behind the scenes stories, you will enjoy this book. It was well written.

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