Audition

A Memoir

By: Barbara Walters

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

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 made Barbara aware of the ups and downs that can occur when someone is willing to take great risks.

The financial responsibility for her family, the fear, the love all 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 has spent a lifetime auditioning, and 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.©2008 Barbara Walters; (P)2008 Books on Tape

Upbeate memoir of an amazing woman

Barbara Walters has done SO much and with such a great attitude. She's changed the way women are viewed and treated in television. I really enjoyed this book. I'm not a very political person, so some of the foreign leader interviews weren't super interesting to me - but the way they were communicated were always with a personal focus which is something you don't usually get when watching a formal interview.

Not supposed to be my cup of tea, but I loved this tea!

Barbara Walters is not a figure im supposed to admire or be inspired by since I am a 27 year old straight man (im guessing here). This book certainly inspired me to want to have a voice , The book is proof of how one woman or person, can have a awesome career this woman interviewed 100 + people including sadam hussein, gadaffi, killers like the menendez brothers, mark david chapman, every president since nixon and ummmm ..monica lewinski. You will learn much about modern history as well and even how to cope with a mentally retarded sibling, in this case how barbara coped with her sister, this is not just about her, everybody should strive to have a life as long and accomplished as her.

Fascinating read, a little long

I enjoyed the book tremendously and learned many things about her childhood I hadn't known

If you want to get into her head

26 hours seems like a very long book, but actually the length of this book is one of the reasons that I picked it. I was looking for a great memoir of a great person. Someone that would inspire and entertain me.I also wanted to get my moneys worth. I have never been a Barbara Walters fan, but I am now. I don't agree with a lot of her politics, but that is beside the point. This book is like sitting beside her as she is talking to her best friend. Its so candid and unscripted. I feel as though she has given me so much information (carte blanch) that I understand her and others who are like minded to her in a much fuller, richer way. I have only finished one quarter of this book to date. I wil update this review as I get further into the memoir. If you are the kind of person who people watches and pays attention to little details of a persons mannerisms and personality and listens to a persons history in order to get information about who they are and how they became this way, then this book will not disappoint you.If you want to get to the meat and potatoes without all of the back story and history, then move on to a different memoir.By the way I have never reviewed a book before so I hope this helps you.

Absolutely Fascinating

Even if you've never been a Barbara Walters fan, you have to appreciate her career.

I found this entire memoir to be captivating, interesting, enlightening and hard to 'put down'. The history alone of what Walters has accomplished is incredible.

If you ARE a fan, you must purchase this and give it a listen. Great narration and wonderful storytelling.