Audition: A Memoir | 
 enlarge | Author: Barbara Walters
Publisher: Knopf
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $12.50
You Save: $17.45 (58%)
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Rating:  181 reviews
Sales Rank: 132
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 624
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.2 x 2.2
ISBN: 030726646X
Dewey Decimal Number: 070.92
EAN: 9780307266460
ASIN: 030726646X
Publication Date: May 6, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Young people starting out in television sometimes say to me: “I want to be you.” My stock reply is always: “Then you have to take the whole package.”
And now, at last, the most important woman in the history of television journalism gives us that “whole package,” in her inspiring and riveting memoir. After more than forty years of interviewing heads of state, world leaders, movie stars, criminals, murderers, inspirational figures, and celebrities of all kinds, Barbara Walters has turned her gift for examination onto herself to reveal the forces that shaped her extraordinary life.
Barbara Walters’s perception of the world was formed at a very early age. Her father, Lou Walters, was the owner and creative mind behind the legendary Latin Quarter nightclub, and it was his risk-taking lifestyle that gave Barbara her first taste of glamour. It also made her aware of the ups and downs, the insecurities, and even the tragedies that can occur when someone is willing to take great risks, for Lou Walters didn’t just make several fortunes—he also lost them. Barbara learned early about the damage that such an existence can do to relationships—between husband and wife as well as between parent and child. Through her roller-coaster ride of a childhood, Barbara had a close companion, her mentally challenged sister, Jackie. True, Jackie taught her younger sister much about patience and compassion, but Barbara also writes honestly about the resentment she often felt having a sister who was so “different” and the guilt that still haunts her.
All of this—the financial responsibility for her family, the fear, the love—played a large part in the choices she made as she grew up: the friendships she developed, the relationships she had, the marriages she tried to make work. Ultimately, thanks to her drive, combined with a decent amount of luck, she began a career in television. And what a career it has been! Against great odds, Barbara has made it to the top of a male-dominated industry. She was the first woman cohost of the Today show, the first female network news coanchor, the host and producer of countless top-rated Specials, the star of 20/20, and the creator and cohost of The View. She has not just interviewed the world’s most fascinating figures, she has become a part of their world. These are just a few of the names that play a key role in Barbara’s life, career, and book: Yasir Arafat, Warren Beatty, Menachem Begin, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Roy Cohn, the Dalai Lama, Princess Diana, Katharine Hepburn, King Hussein, Angelina Jolie, Henry Kissinger, Monica Lewinsky, Richard Nixon, Rosie O’Donnell, Christopher Reeve, Anwar Sadat, John Wayne . . . the list goes on and on.
Barbara Walters has spent a lifetime auditioning: for her bosses at the TV networks, for millions of viewers, for the most famous people in the world, and even for her own daughter, with whom she has had a difficult but ultimately quite wonderful and moving relationship. This book, in some ways, is her final audition, as she fully opens up both her private and public lives. In doing so, she has given us a story that is heartbreaking and honest, surprising and fun, sometimes startling, and always fascinating.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 176 more reviews...
 Memoir:Barbara Walters July 6, 2008
Darlene Elliott (Sheridan, Wy)
This order is long overdue and has been charged to my Visa card. I am a regular customer of Amazon but when I inquired about my order (and used the avenue you instructed me to use) I got a cold, "it is not our concern" answer. I realize that I am dealing with a dealer but your service is at stake too. I can not afford to lose nearly $20 on an order. I just hope that you will at least try to help resolve this.
Darlene Elliott
 Auditions ~ great book July 6, 2008
Darlene A. Kapenga (Mount Pleasant, Michigan)
I found this book to be interesting.. and entertaining and have a lot of history tucked in to the pages..
Ms. Walters has talked to some amazing people.. and it was interesting to hear her talk about it..
Love Barbara July 4, 2008
J. M. O'Connor (Chicago)
I've never been a great fan of Barbara, but this book made me one. Loved her view of the past 40 years of encounters. Her determination made a difference for women.
Extremely well written; couldn't put it down.
I couldn't put this book down! July 3, 2008
Amy (Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania)
I absolutely adored this book!
I wasn't aware that Barbara Walters played such a "ground breaking" role for women in the communications industry! Not to mention all of the diplomats, celebrities and real people she interviewed. What a resume!
It was extremely interesting to me to hear about "the story" behind the interview. As well as how she worked extremely hard to get where she is today.
I would highly recommend this book!
Open mouth; insert foot! July 3, 2008
Anonymous
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you like Barbara Walters and want to continue to like her; DO NOT READ this book. If I could have selected zero stars, I would have. I am totally turned off to someone I thought was a wonderful journalist and a powerful woman in her field. I cannot imagine what she was thinking when she wrote this book. First of all, it is not written well at all. It follows no chronological order what-so-ever and it is often very difficult to determine if we are talking about something that happened last year or in 1972. I found myself constantly re-reading and revisiting earlier chapters to determine what period in time I was reading about. I know you can't really know someone from a written account but by her own words, she lost any respect I might have had for her. Her affairs with married men, her arrogance at her abilities, her lack of parenting that caused her daughter many years of hardship, her selfishness with regard to her parents and her mentally challenged sister... it all disgusts me. I found myself actually getting angry at her cold heartedness and lack of humanity. Since I really can't find a single nice thing to say about this book and I don't want to give away any of the daunting details for anyone who might be looking for an awful book to read, I'll leave it as that.
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