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 enlarge | Author: Barbara Walters
Publisher: Knopf
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $15.90
You Save: $14.05 (47%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  195 reviews
Sales Rank: 145
Media: Hardcover
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
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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TV Star Hurts Her Journalistc Reputation By Giving Too Much Information About Her Unethical and Immoral Life July 14, 2008
This well-written, incredibly detailed autobiography of the biggest female pioneer in television news ends up being a sad read because of the many self-damaging stories that Barbara Walters tells. "Too much information" should have been the title of the book, because Walters thinks it's important to tell us that she slept with her first boss out of college and lost her virginity, then feared she was pregnant after having an affair with a Frenchman and struggled with whether she should illegally abort the baby (it ended up she wasn't pregnant), she married men she wasn't in love with, she slept with men she was in love with, she almost married a famous homosexual, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
She even talks about having three miscarriages with her second husband, but then says she's grateful for the miscarriages because she fears that any baby of hers may have had the "hereditary" mental retardation condition of Walters' older sister! Wow--it's hard to believe a well-educated woman would print such a shameful admission.
She also gave a speech minutes after learning of her precious sister's death--then lied to her elderly mother by claiming her sister was still alive.
The woman has besmirched her own memory by now making us question anything she has ever done in the journalistic field. As a journalist, she is suppposed to tell the truth, expose the truth and promote the truth. But in this confessional she admits to often lying about major things (she lied about her kid's age to get the child on a plane and has even recently lied for Star Jones on the View), using her power to keep news of her dad's suicide attempt out of the papers, use a notorious friend to get her dad's criminal charges dropped, and, worst of all, WON'T EVEN TELL US THE YEAR OF HER BIRTH!
So the woman who insists on digging into the personal details of other public figure's lives and then expose them to all of America has worked hard to cover up and lie about her own life. This book is now supposed to somehow set everything straight, but instead it makes her seem like a much smaller person. Those who read the book will never be able to take Walters seriously again, since she lies and cheats and sleeps around so often that you have to question her credibility.
When the media do question her credibility she reacts hysterically. She complains throughout the book when the media raise legitimate criticisms about her work or choices. Maybe it's time she starts listening to them.
She also seems to have lived a VERY well-off life, even though she likes to emphasize the lean years. She still has not gotten her driver's license--and why should she since she had a personal driver picking her up ever since she was a child? She seem out of touch with much of the rest of the world, admitting to not knowing some very middle-class things (like never having heard of Fresca when President Johnson offered her one in 1968. Didn't she even watch TV commercials on her own show or go grocery shopping for herself??? The answer is probably not!
She constantly talks about feeling guilty but in every case it's her own fault--usually she has lied or hurt someone or chosen work over family. She seems oblivious to her own negatives, thought, and doesn't seem to understand the harm she has done. The reader will feel sorry for her adopted daughter because it is so obvious in the book that Walters paid more attention to her intervewees and lovers than her child.
Walters comes across as a terrible mother, terrible wife, insecure journalist, terrible person. So why is she admired in any way?
The book is well researched (by someone else) and Walters probably had help writing it, since it is very well written and edited. The are odd gaps--such as the fact that she can't remember what classes she took in college or can't remember the name of the place where she got her first job out of college--but she is getting old. We don't know exactly how old, but you could probably guess somewhere around 78 or 79 today, based on the other details she gives.
She also claims her being the first female co-host of the Today show is "not noted in history books." Ah...sorry, Barbara, but it's noted in EVERY book about TV history. She then writes, "It was not in my natures to be courageous, to be the first..." Ah, her false modesty is showing. Her life was all about trying to be the first.
At 580 pages the book is way too long. There are entire chapters on her famous interviews that are just rehashes of things Walters has said already over the years and not a lot of new insight. So half of the book is her personal story and the other half less interesting stories about her interviews.
It's a great book filled with fascinating stories--it's one that needed to be written and has a lot of important details about the history of television. But she also does a lot of whinig and complaining, putting herself down. This is not the Barbara on the TV screen, the self-confident woman who would fight to get the best interviews. This book portrays the insecure, introverted Barbara. Even the title "Audition" is a bit of a fakery--she claims she has always had to audition and continues to do so, yet the facts prove that she stumbled into many jobs without any audition and that she can have pretty much anything she wants today. So the question is--which is the true Barbara Walters? It's hard to know because this book just raises so many questions about her lack of character that you won't know what to believe when you're done reading it.
Her AUDITION Isn't Over..... July 14, 2008
I suppose I bought Walters' book because we are of the same generation, and I knew it would be full of stories about people I've encountered many times in the news. I wasn't disappointed...I found it to be very entertaining and readable. It's to her credit that she revealed so much of her personal life at this time; how ironic, though, that with all the fame and fortune she's achieved, she's still, at heart, a little Jewish girl who is crying out to be accepted. This makes her very real and very human. I'm still a fan.
 Thoroughly Enjoyed The Book July 12, 2008
It took me a while to read the book, but I thoroughly enjoyed it...I remember most of the interviews she talked about it and remember getting really excited when one of her Specials was coming on tv....Passed it on to a dear friend who I am sure will also enjoy it
 Audition by Barbara Walter July 12, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have not received this book. The last promised date has past for almost one week. What is happening. I can not obviously review this item.
Barbara tells it like it is July 11, 2008
Barbara herself should be on her list of top 10 most fascinating people. Those people who gave her a bad review fail to see the impact she's made for the next generation of working women and especially in television journalism. It's almost impossible to balance work and home these days, let alone being the first woman having to deal with all those male chauvinistic tactics and prejudices at work. I'm not saying what she did in regards to her daughter and family is right or wrong, but those are her choices and they're never easy to make. Its easy to judge from the outside looking in.
I especially enjoyed the parts of her childhood and adolescence. It was hard to put it down!
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