Audition: A Memoir | 
 enlarge | Author: Barbara Walters
Publisher: Knopf
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  42 reviews
Sales Rank: 7
Media: Roughcut
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 624
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 (New: Last 30 Days)
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 37 more reviews...
 Front row on History May 22, 2008
A man would have titled the book, Front Row on History, based on its contribution to us. A woman titled it after her inner demons. Therein lies its appeal. BW takes us on her journey, complete with a sympathetic, flawed heroine. Thank you Baba Wawa. Your book was too short.
Great Memoir May 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This 5 cd set was great when I took my long road trip....easy listening.
If you are interested in this revolutionary lady, Barbara Walters, it is wonderful memoir or her life, family and climb to success. Most inspiring. The only disappointment is since it is an abridged edition, it does not include her affair with the Mass. Congressman.....Recommend highly
Is Barbara A Journalist Or Is She Cher? May 22, 2008
"Walters nonetheless takes care to report on the very public drubbing she received at the hands of her male peers during the summer between her departure from "Today" and the start of her tenure at ABC. "I am trying to have an open mind about it," was the less-than-supportive statement her future co-anchor Harry Reasoner made to the papers. CBS News president Richard Salant asked, "Is Barbara a journalist or is she Cher?" while Walter Cronkite announced that Walters' move gave him "the sickening sensation that we're all going under." Rebecca Traister
By now Barbara Walters has been on every TV, radio and media event to publicize her new book, 'Audition'. There is very little we do not know about her. Barbara is an idol to many, and she was the first woman to co-star on NBC's 'Today'. She went on to appear on ABC's nightly news with Harry Reasoner. Her unfortunate experiences colored the feeling so many women had towards Barbara's male colleagues. She certainly tried to break the barriers.
Barbara's early childhood was difficult but it gave her a certain confidence on how to relate with almost anyone. Her father, Lou Walters, was rarely home and at one point wanted a divorce from his wife. Barbara's mother cajoled her onto going to her father and begging him not to leave his family. From that moment on what interview could be more difficult than that? As we are learn the interviews came one after another and Barbara became the competitive woman she is today. She tells us in this book, that she is through auditioning, but if, someone were to call her and say that Osama Ben Laden was willing to grant an interview, she would be ready. Barbara tells us of the difficulty she had with her young daughter, Jackie. Jackie became a drug addict and left home. Barbara assisted Jackie in putting her life together and today they have a wonderful relationship.
Barbara has been married three times. Many wonder if Barbara has been looking for her father. Why do we care and why do we wonder? Barbara reveals the loves and lives of some of the men she met along the way. The most shocking to many people, was her affair with Sen. Edward Brooks. With these revelations, Barbara has attempted to show us that she is a regular person who has had a life of ups and downs, miseries and happiness . She has experienced a life that most of us would envy but she wonders if she had the time to appreciate all that her life afforded.
"Surely the finest and most revealing moment in "Audition" comes near the end, when Walters describes being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey, for O magazine, on the occasion of her retirement from "20/20." Oprah asks her what it "means" to be Barbara Walters, a question that may exceed even the high Walters-ian bar for pop-psych pseudo-depth. Walters responds that she's not sure. "I realize how blessed I have been but sometimes I still feel inadequate," she tells Oprah. "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?" As Walters reports in her book, "I looked up at Oprah and saw that she had tears in her eyes." And there it is, the meaning of Barbara Walters. She can even make her interviewer cry." Nicholas Lemann
'Audition' has been likened to Katharine Graham's autobiography, 'Personal History'. There is a slight resemblance, but what is missing from Barbara Walter's book is the frankness of Katharine Graham. The inner revelation of the woman, and the one story after another of the public people she has interviewed. There are not enough stories interwoven to bring this storyline continuity. This book is highly entertaining and even at its great length, 579 pages.
Recommended. prisrob 05-22-08
How to Talk with Practically Anybody about Practically Anything
 Interesting, but I thought she was too self serving all of her life May 21, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I was really getting to dislike the "person" but admired her work and drive. I really think that in her life she always came first, her work came second and if there was any time left,and it sounds like there rarely was, her family came last.
I was getting tired of "guilt, guilt, guilt". When she kept up the same selfish behavior. Change and be more caring of your family, for goodness sake!
What's the problem? May 21, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I don't understand the critical reviews. She really opens up in this book. Even without the racy(?)revelations the book is interesting. If she wrote it just to make a buck, so what? The buyer gets his/her monies worth.For Personal Pickup
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