Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand is by any account a living legend, a woman who in a career spanning six decades has excelled in every area of entertainment. She is among the handful of EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) and has one of the greatest and most recognizable voices in the history of popular music. She has been nominated for a Grammy 46 times, and with Yentl she became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major motion picture. In [this book], she tells her own story about her life and extraordinary career, from growing up in Brooklyn to her first star-making appearances in New York nightclubs to her breakout performance in Funny Girl to the long string of successes in every medium in the years that followed. No entertainer's memoir has been more anticipated and this engrossing and delightful book will be eagerly welcomed by her millions of fans.
With the tremendous scope of Streisand's career, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at how big this book is. It weighs in at 966 pages, and the audible version, which is what I experienced, is over 40 hours long! (And that takes a long time to get through when you mainly listen while driving.) A lot of that length is due to the depth of her details. I think she must remember every gown she ever wore to any premier, awards show, fundraising gala, or trip to the corner deli. I highly recommend the audio version. While you'll miss the photos included in the book, you'll get some extra material, like snippets of songs and what I swear is a running commentary on the book's contents as Ms. Streisand adds quite a few asides and "by the way"s while she's reading. That seems unusual for an author reading their book, but it's a fine example of what is made clear time and time again...Barbra Streisand does things the way they make sense to her, not necessarily the way any kind of establishment thinks they should be done.
And not necessarily the way any clear, logical person thinks, either. Streisand seems to operate with a strange mixture of faith, ego, and superstition. She talks about praying to God...and her dead father. She puts a LOT of emphasis on 24 being her favorite/lucky number. And in talking about her visit to Israel, she says her first stop was the Western Wall "a sacred place of prayer in the old city of Jerusalem. I slipped a note between the stone slabs, but I can't tell you what I wrote because then it won't come true." As if a written prayer is like making a wish while blowing out candles on a birthday cake.
One final note...I admit to fast-forwarding through some sections where Ms Streisand apparently felt we couldn't live without hearing all about her political convictions.
First Line: An "amiable anteater"?
Page 56 / Line 5: Right before I auditioned at the Bon Soir, I have a vivid memory of walking down the street thinking, This night could change my life.
A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: Fame is a hollow trophy.
Last Line: I think I truly am one of the luckiest people in the world.
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