Audition: A Memoir | 
| Author: Barbara Walters
Publisher: Knopf
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  198 reviews
Sales Rank: 123
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
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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 Chavez, 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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 193 more reviews...
 A fascinating memoir July 22, 2008
Once 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 Barbara says had the biggest impact on her life. Her childhood was a roller-coaster ride, with several moves and the ups and downs of her father's financial successes and failures.
This early life seemed to have left her with fear of financial failure and a burning desire to succeed at her chosen career. She describes long hours and less than ideal conditions and co-workers, but somehow she managed to shine brightly in her chosen career in television. She had to contend with a male-dominated field and her rise from a writer on the Today show to an anchor spot was unprecedented in television history.
She is not shy about sharing opinions of the many people who have passed through her life. She found Hillary Clinton more interesting than Bill. She loved working with Hugh Downs, but had problems with Harry Reasoner. She loved interviewing Bette Midler, but had a hard time with Warren Beatty. All of this and much more is contained in the book.
Her success did not come without a price, most of it in the areas of her personal and family life. At an early age, she became the sole support of her mother, father, and sister. She bravely took on this responsibility, but as her fame grew, she didn't seem to spend much time with her family. She states that she really regrets the fact that she was not with her mother when she died. She left her daughter for long periods of time with 2 live-in babysitters and seemed surprised later when she found out that her daughter missed her. She admits to being bad at marriage, and her three failed attempts bear that out. Sometimes she seems to take her role as a journalist a little too seriously, but then she disarms the reader by being brutally honest about some of her failures. This is her life as Barbara sees it, but it is a fascinating life and is well worth the time to read it.
Barbara Wa -Wa July 21, 2008
I 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.
 Too much politics July 21, 2008
I 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.
Torn... July 18, 2008
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 was an adult. There are many times in this book where Ms. Walters says I know I should feel guilty about whatever but I really just want to be free from them. Ms. Walters wasn't around for any of their deaths and even lied to her mother about her sister's passing.
With my occupation, it's hard for me to read about Barbara Walters making a decision to adopt a child and then leaving her all the time. She hires two ladies after her divorce as babysitters to her daughter, Jackie and then leaves Jackie while she goes off chasing stories. She didn't even make a police report when Jackie disappears for a month or more and is found in Kansas. I just found this so irresponsible and that's not the picture that I had of her. I think if a biographer had written this book unauthorized it might have been easier for me to take but Barbara herself wrote this book.
Now the good parts. She definitely wrote a book warts and all. I loved the fact that I could relive my life with this book. I remember so many of her interviews or the events she describes. It was fascinating to learn a lot of the behind the scenes of the programs and interviews. I loved her talking about her times at the Today show. Definitely liked the chapter about The View. Overall, I think it is a fascinating information book about a pioneer in the world of female news reporting, but just realize that Barbara Walters has some flaws and she lets them all hang out.
Best Memoir Ever July 16, 2008
I 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 seems so obssessed. This was also a great reminder of all that Barbara Walters did to break the barriers for women in the news/entertainment industry. I would suggest this book to younger women as a history lesson since some of them seem to take so much for granted. As Barbara Walters focused and worked her way up the hierarchy of the communications world, she also changed it for everyone following her, female and male.
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