The Rulebreaker

The Life and Times of Barbara Walters

De: Susan Page

Narrado por: Susan Page

Duración: 14 h y 5 m

Resumen del Editor

The definitive biography of the most successful female broadcaster of all time—Barbara Walters—a woman whose personal demons fueled an ambition that broke all the rules and finally gave women a permanent place on the air, written by bestselling author Susan Page.

Barbara Walters was a force from the time TV was exploding on the American scene in the 1960s to its waning dominance in a new world of competition from streaming services and social media half a century later. She was not just a groundbreaker for women (Oprah announced when she was seventeen that she wanted to be Barbara Walters), but also expanded the big TV interview and then dominated the genre. By the end of her career, she had interviewed more of the famous and infamous, from presidents to movie stars to criminals to despots, than any other journalist in history. Then at sixty-seven, past the age many female broadcasters found themselves involuntarily retired, she pioneered a new form of talk TV called The View. She is on the short list of those who have left the biggest imprints on television news and on our culture, male or female. So, who was the woman behind the legacy?

In The Rulebreaker, Susan Page conducts 150 interviews and extensive archival research to discover that Walters was driven to keep herself and her family afloat after her mercurial and famous impresario father attempted suicide. But she never lost the fear of an impending catastrophe, which is what led her to ask for things no woman had ever asked for before, to ignore the rules of misogynistic culture, to outcompete her most ferocious competitors, and to protect her complicated marriages and love life from scrutiny.

Page breaks news on every front—from the daring things Walters did to become the woman who reinvented the TV interview to the secrets she kept until her death. This is the eye-opening account of the woman who knew she had to break all the rules so she could break all the rules about what viewers deserved to know.

©2024 Susan Page (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio

The constant challenges BW encountered and her determination to meet each challenge.

We don’t know what it has taken to become the “successful” person you see. This book goes wide and deep helping us to know Barbara Walters and what she did to achieve that success.

Barbara Walter's

I loved every minute of this audio book as it presented and described Barbara Walter's life in such an in depth manner and brought her alive to the reading public.

Moving and Informative

A fascinating account of what it took for Walter’s success and what she did not have in her long life. Another Susan Page success.

Very well written and very interesting

I have been fascinated by BW for years and really enjoyed this biography of her. I appreciate that the author does not talk about only the good and dives into things like her relationship with Diane Sowyer other events that happened behind the scenes that the public may not know about.

Honest portrayal

Liked the honesty of all Barbara Walters was..and was not. Historically honest with background factors revealed in forthright manner.

Too much!

I liked Barbara Walters better before I read the book. I’m also a competitive person but I don’t like winning via undermining, cut-throat, conniving backstabbing methods so often used in highly paid, power-filled, corporate positions. Is this just a human trait known as greed and narcissim? I forced myself to finish the book, though skipped through much of what seemed repetitive. Admittedly I can relate to the last 15 years of Barbara’s life. I too do not like admitting to myself that I can no longer do everything I used to do or as well as I once did. And I’m not fond of looking older. Maybe a few of Barbara’s traits hit too close to home. 😊