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Books : Audition: A MemoirIn association with Amazon.comby: Barbara Walters  List Price: $29.95 Amazon.com's Price: $19.77 You Save: $10.18 (34%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 070.92 EAN: 9780307266460 ISBN: 030726646X Label: Knopf Manufacturer: Knopf Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 624 Publication Date: May 06, 2008 Publisher: Knopf Release Date: May 06, 2008 Studio: Knopf Sales Rank: 147 Related Items:
Editorial Review: 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 Chávez, 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. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - A fascinating memoirOnce I started reading this book, it was hard to put down. I found it fascinating to read about a woman who has had a front-row seat at many important historical events and who has known many history-makers either personally or professionally. Her story begins with her early life, growing up as the daughter of Lou Walters, the show business producer, her mother Dena, whom Barbara thinks was married to the wrong person, and her older sister Jackie, who was mentally retarded and whom ... Read More Rating: - Barbara Wa -WaI have always been curious about her and this book certainly examines her life and her accomplishments as well as her failings and weaknesses . SHe is also as expected is a great reader and a great human being . I admire her braveness and drive . A must for all women movement advocates . ALthough she does not dwell on women it does cover a very couragous woman nonetheless. Rating:  - Too much politicsI enjoyed Auditions; however, I was bored hearing about all the political interviewees and would have enjoyed hearing more about the celebrity interviewees. I purchased the CDs because I don't have time to sit and read a book and there could have been more CDs to cover what was in the book and not on CD. Rating: - Torn...I'm really torn about this book. I wanted to enjoy it. I've always looked up to and been fascinated by Barbara Walters. However, she herself has changed that view. First of all, I expected the book to be a little better written. Her sentence structure wasn't always the best. Anyway, I didn't know that Ms. Walters had had a sister that was mentally challenged. I definitely didn't know that Ms. Walters basically ran away from her family responsibilities with her parents and sister after she ... Read More Rating: - Best Memoir EverI was riveted by Barbara Walter's memoir, Audition. It was a fascinating read and frankly, a great reminder of the history through which I have lived. When I was younger, I missed some of those historic interviews due to youthful disinterest. As an older woman, I am now a political junkie and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Walter's interviews in the first part of her career. I appreciated the fact that she didn't clutter the book with the actor celebrity interviews with which our current society ... Read More Browse for similar items by category:
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