Helpful Score: 2
"I want to be you" is what young people starting out in television would say to Barbara Walters, her reply was always "Then you have to take the whole package". But that package has been kept as a closely guarded secret to the real world for her entire career. Even her age is speculated by different media (tabloid) outlets. This book reveals all.
As is usual in an celebrity's life, the beginning is not always pretty. She talks in detail about her sister and her deficiencies. Whether now with all the testing and diagnosing and help available might her sister's life have been different? How her Father worked night and day to make the world of entertainment an everyday thing for everyday people. Lou Walters didn't get much recognition in life but recently had a street named after him in NY, where the Latin Quarter once stood.
She talks about her many romances, and speaks candidly about her marriages. Her chapter on Merv was familiar to me as she talked about Lorimar and such.
The chapter on her daughter is beautifully written about an ugly time. A time most parents of teenage daughters go through but hid from their friends. It is good to read that with everything they went through, there is hope in the end.
The last third of the book deals mainly with her hundreds of interviews, it is fascinating to read how hard she worked to get the "get". How much travel and fatigue is involved.
I have never been a "fan" per se. But I am definately impressed with all she has done and the "glass ceilings" she has broken for many women.
As is usual in an celebrity's life, the beginning is not always pretty. She talks in detail about her sister and her deficiencies. Whether now with all the testing and diagnosing and help available might her sister's life have been different? How her Father worked night and day to make the world of entertainment an everyday thing for everyday people. Lou Walters didn't get much recognition in life but recently had a street named after him in NY, where the Latin Quarter once stood.
She talks about her many romances, and speaks candidly about her marriages. Her chapter on Merv was familiar to me as she talked about Lorimar and such.
The chapter on her daughter is beautifully written about an ugly time. A time most parents of teenage daughters go through but hid from their friends. It is good to read that with everything they went through, there is hope in the end.
The last third of the book deals mainly with her hundreds of interviews, it is fascinating to read how hard she worked to get the "get". How much travel and fatigue is involved.
I have never been a "fan" per se. But I am definately impressed with all she has done and the "glass ceilings" she has broken for many women.
Helpful Score: 1
Loved this book!!! So much information on people that you are familiar with and never knew what was going on behind the scenes... fasinating!!!
Helpful Score: 1
This was a truly fascinating account of Barbara Walter's life, both personal and professional. I was impressed with how honest she chose to be. There was a lot of information that didn't need to be shared, but she figured if she was writing a book there was no holding back.
Helpful Score: 1
Barbara's memoir depicts a life of ups and downs, successes and failures, celebrations and divorces, but more importantly Barbara's life as not always seen by the public. Barbara does not simply gloss over the stages in her life, but lets the reader peak inside for some details not written before about the many facets that make up Barbara Walters. Embarrassing moments are put out there for the reader to empathize (if not sympathize) with. Barbara does not write about a perfect person or a charmed life, but of a woman who steps where other woman could only dream about generations ago. She portrays a working mother who feels guilty if she isn't home every minute with her daughter, but then feels guilty if she is away from her work. Many mothers can certainly relate to what Barbara describes in her story. Barbara, also with the blessing of her daughter, talks about the tumultuous teenage years and the frustration felt by both the famous mother, and the adopted child. Although she has made choices that I wouldn't necessarily agree with, I do respect her for what she has accomplished, and encourage members to read her book. There are 582 packed pages of information that will take the reader awhile to wade through, but with patience, the effort will be worthwhile in my humble opinion. Great book by an inspiring pioneer.
Helpful Score: 1
An in-depth autobiography of the news legend Barbara Walters. The first 100-200 pages are solely about her upbringing and family history and how she first got into broadcast news. That first part was really interesting. Barbara talks about how she was the first woman to do various TV roles and how she led the way for other women to follow in her footsteps. She also goes into great detail about various interviews she has done with celebrities and political figures and how she stays in touch with them, even after the interview is over (or not). I stopped reading about 350 pages in. Honestly, after 350 pages, the book seems to be a lot of name-dropping and either bragging or complaining about the various interview situations she found herself in. It got to be very monotonous and I had to put the book down. I enjoyed reading the first half of the book, but the second half just gets to be too much, IMHO. If you're a diehard Barbara Walters fan you will probably like this.
