Audition: A Memoir | 
 enlarge | Author: Barbara Walters
Publisher: Knopf
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
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Rating:  233 reviews
Sales Rank: 861
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 624
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.2 x 2.2
ISBN: 030726646X
Dewey Decimal Number: 070.92
EAN: 9780307266460
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 228 more reviews...
 An Extraordinary Life and Book May 6, 2008
Norma Lehmeierhartie (New York, USA)
168 out of 205 found this review helpful
At nine o'clock this morning, I arrived at Barnes and Noble, picked up Audition and sat down to read with a cup of coffee. I read for hours, bought the book and continued reading at home.
At over 600 pages, this book cannot be read in a day. However, I have read enough to report that the book is magnificent; extremely well- written, very pleasurable to read and absolutely fascinating.
Thankfully, there is also a detailed index. I found myself eying the index and flipping through to certain sections. I enjoyed reading about Walters' experience with the application form and other details at my alma mater, Sarah Lawrence College.
Open this book and on the inside jacket is a listing of the hundreds (thousands?) of people who Barbara Walters has interviewed and knows. It's pretty staggering, actually.
Born September 25, 1929, Barbara Walters has led an extraordinary life. Walters was first known as a TV morning news anchor and became the first female evening news anchor and many of us know her as the interviewer who can make anyone cry. Walters has spent decades reporting the news and interviewing, extracting juicy details and information out of world leaders, celebrities, heads of state and other VIP's.
In Audition, we get to learn about Walter's personal and professional life and her relationships with many of the most famous people in the world.
In the prologue, Walters states: "It feels to me that my life has been one long audition--an attempt to make a difference and to be accepted."
I was quite moved by her introduction and her feelings about her mentally challenged older sister, Jackie. Walters credits her sister as being the strongest influence in her life and credits her for teaching Walters about compassion and understanding--the traits that have made her such an outstanding interviewer.
"I've guarded my sister's privacy for years." Walters writes. "And although she was the central force in my life, she was part of the package that I'm about to unwrap on these pages."
Walter's warmth and compassion comes through in this book and you come to care very deeply about her. She writes in a conversational tone and the book is very enjoyable to read.
One statement Walters makes I found strange, however; she writes: "I was then, and still am, attracted to men who are smart and powerful. I'm not sure why. I think it's because I'd always hoped there would be a strong, successful man to take care of me so I wouldn't have to take care of myself."
Really? Or is it simply that like seeks like--why would Walters seek a stupid and weak partner?
In spite of that statement, I see hope and inspiration in this book especially for young women and girls, because it shows that a woman can be highly intelligent, tough and successful and still be a woman.
From the author of the award winning book, Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet.
A Classy Honest but Painful "Coming to Grips with Life" May 12, 2008
Herbert L Calhoun (Falls Church, VA USA)
22 out of 34 found this review helpful
Befitting the classy lady that she is, Mrs. Walters has penned an extremely honest, revealing and often painful summary of an interesting and fulfilling life.
Not being able to drive, cook, or athletic in any way, including being unable to even ride a horse, makes Barbara seem almost normal: Her humanity comes through in so many ways that she now feels like a member of the family, the family of humanity: and not the calculating, hyper-testosterone, driven pseudo-masculine "ball-busting" "kill-or-be-killed witch" persona that she is often accused of projecting.
If having to care for her entire family after her father's "ups and downs," and then finally "down and out" business life was not enough, then her relationship with her "less than normal sister," troubles with her adopted daughter, her social isolation, and her struggles against a male dominated world, brings her humanity clearly into focus in a way that no other aspects of her life ever could have done.
After reading so much pabulum masquerading as autobiography (Hilary Clinton's "Living History" for instance), it is refreshing to read one that actually reveals a life actually lived and one, worth living.
Five Stars
Changing the World for Female Journalists May 15, 2008
Thomas M. Loarie (Danville, CA USA)
15 out of 24 found this review helpful
Barbara Walters who has spent more than five decades shattering the glass ceiling for female journalists has delivered a candid new memoir, "Audition," looking back on her extraordinary life. "Audition" begins in Boston where she was born and concludes in New York where she continues to work at age 78 on her ABC specials and "The View." She provides the kind of personal glimpses and secrets she tries to extract from her many high-profile interviews.
Walters got into television by accident and got her big break when she did Alpo dog food commercials as a "Today Girl" on NBC's Today Show. She then became the first woman cohost of the Today show, and after a difficult move to ABC, the first female network news co-anchor. "Audition" provides the behind the scenes stories we have come to expect in books like this, as she made history rising against all odds to the top of a male-dominated industry.
"Audition" is filled with star-studded stories about her famous and infamous interviewees including Richard Nixon, Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin, Shah of Iran, Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Katherine Hepburn, Yasir Arafat, Warren Beatty, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Roy Cohn, the Dalai Lama, Princess Diana, King Hussein, Angelina Jolie, Henry Kissinger, Monica Lewinsky, Rosie O'Donnell, Christopher Reeve . . . the list goes on and on.
Walters weaves a very human narrative of her family throughout the book; a narrative that provides clues to where she got her drive, the choices she made, her three failed marriages, being attracted to older (and often married) men, and her willingness to take risk. There is her risk-taking father, Lou Walters, the mercurial nightclub impresario who made and lost several fortunes; her long suffering mother; the family's descent from the penthouse to rent-controlled apartments; her mentally disabled sister, Jackie, who taught her much about patience and compassion; and the troubled teen years of her adopted daughter, Jackie (named in honor of her sister) who got hooked on amphetamines.
"Audition" is a very readable portrait of a deftly calculating woman with an impeccable sense of timing and incredible luck. Walters has given us a story that is heartbreaking and honest, surprising and fun, sometimes startling, and always fascinating. This makes a great companion book to Katie Couric's recently published biography, "Katie: The Real Story."
Conversion of a non-fan May 27, 2008
D. West (Boise, Idaho United States)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I've never been particularly fond of BW's interviewing style and I used to cringe at some of her seemingly "odd soft-ball" questions. Why, I thought, is she asking goof ball questions to high ranking political figures--it seemed like a set back for women trying to make it in a man's world. Reading her aptly titled book, I now feel that I understand BW much better and like her much more--she's actually human, not an android!
I've read a lot of the critical reviews and feel that maybe readers approached the book with a pre-determined decision. I myself would never have purchased the book, especially in hard cover, until I saw clips from some of her interviews about it. I realized that maybe the cloak had been dropped and BW was ready to really let the viewers see her with all her warts intact. And, that she did, in spades! Maybe even a bit too much. But, if it was to be an honest autobiography, I believe she had to tell it all or stay home. Some think she should have taken some of her secrets to the grave and that she hurt people by what she wrote. Certainly it doesn't make it right just because its true, but I rather doubt that anyone is suffering from what happened to her decades ago, except maybe BW. So, though it went to places that may seem too personal, I appreciated the candor. Why write only the good stuff when life isn't like that. She maligned herself as well. Did we want more contrition for her obvious bad choices (marital affairs, etc.)? Maybe, but if one believes in Kismet, then she will answer for her choices.
I now see BW as a very insecure woman (at least through much of her journalistic career) who never felt quite good enough, even though she was systematically moving ahead in a "man's world." BW endured a lot of sh__ from some of her pompous male co-workers in a time when a lot of women would have packed their purse and gone home. She didn't. She stayed, fought for her rightful place, even when the stakes were great, and took home the prize.
This book humanizes a woman that many have never known. Is it honest? Certainly. From BW's standpoint, she's letting it all hang out. Does she go too far, name too many names? Well, maybe so, but, let's be honest, that's what some of us were looking for, the unvarnished view of her life as she saw it. Maybe others would disagree with her characterizations and if they were part of the picture, they have that right. However, the general audience really shouldn't pass that judgment, since we weren't there and don't know. But, because BW was willing to shine the light (an unflattering one) on herself as well as her colleagues and lovers, I felt that maybe this was her attempt to reveal her humanity, which she had so carefully hidden behind cameras and questions for so long.
BW obviously did some questionable things, such as having an affair with a married black Congressman. Did she do it for love or for her own career? Well, only she knows, but I tend to believe her when she says she loved Brooke and I can't see how a super secret affair advanced her career. It had the potential to destroy her career given the time period. As many have noted, Brooke's career was over because of the affair. Maybe so, but one can hardly blame BW. She didn't force him to do anything he wasn't already doing with other women and would likely do again. He was a brilliant politician so I can hardly feel sorry for him when he unraveled his own career. He had choices, as did BW and they both had to live with the consequences. Perhaps she suffered less from the aftermath; why, I don't presume to know. But, let's not vilify her for razing the Senator's career--he did that!
Whether one liked the book or not, one must admit it is incredibly well written and therefore very readable. One might expect that from a news correspondent, but I've read other autobiographies that were poorly written and revealed nothing. In fact, some books seem as though the authors had too much help from outside sources (Gore and the Clintons come to mind). There seemed to be too many details (good and bad) for anyone else to have written this, plus I believe BW is too controlling to leave what may be her most important work to someone else.
I also feel, unlike other reviewers, that the title "Audition" was very apt. It shows us the insecure nature of BW's personality. Being a woman in a male dominated field myself, I can certainly empathize with her inner conflicts. It's not easy breaking any new or working established ground and most of the men I've encountered over the years weren't too happy about sharing credit with a woman. So, it forces women to work longer, try harder and feel less secure about the outcome since most often the boss is a male as well. BW had a mix of people in her life that helped to make her what she is today, as no one does it alone. She was fortunate in many ways and the conflict probably made her stronger and more determined to win, which she certainly has done. No matter how you cut it, BW was a trailblazer and she suffered as a result. Her personal life was often in shambles and knowing about her youth helped me to understand and appreciate her struggles. She knows she made mistakes, owns up to them, and is moving on. Bravo for her.
I really enjoyed the sets of pictures and it provided a walk down memory lane looking at the many famous faces. The View was probably my least favorite chapter but it seems many reviewers related to it the most, even calling BW a liar about what she wrote. I finally watched the program after reading the book. To me it is cotton candy after her T-bone career. While I did not particularly enjoy the show, I think BW deserves dessert after all her hard work. I may give it another go, but I suspect many viewers like it because of the titillating nature of some of the stars and the personal escapades that were aired on national TV. I think we get enough of that from ET and other newsmagazines of this nature.
In closing, I felt that BW was gracious and had an amazing ability to remain friends with people who gouged her during her climb. If her recounting is accurate, she did not "sleep" her way to the top nor did she climb over others to get there. She comes across as being a team player and being gracious and supportive of others' successes and rather forgiving of some of the nastier crowd who attempted to bring her down or at least maligned her reputation. She prevailed in spite of or maybe because of these people and she's moved on to other things. While I haven't been historically a fan of her interviewing style, I have come to appreciate the forces that shaped her and her book is a great read, entertaining and funny. Read it and judge for yourself.
A complete history of a great life August 6, 2008
Kel (Charlotte, NC USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This was one of those books I got totally lost in. I would read it in the Y and before I knew it, I was on the bike for 7 miles and it felt like only 1.
Barbara Walters was like a fixture on our shelf in our living room as a kid. Always there, but I didn't pay much attention to her. Looking back, I remember that fixture and I am reliving my childhood and all the memories of my family and the history of our time during the 60's and 70's.
Yes, Barbara does a little bragging about her success in TV, as she should. However, she is also a very honest and down to earth celebrity. Although she felt comfortable in front of the camera, she did not always feel comfortable in her own skin, especially in her personal life. She felt a lot of guilt when it came to her family. Especially with her father and sister, Jackie.
I admire her for her success as a woman. She paved the way for the opportunities that women have today. I also admire her for her candidness. She does not hold back in this book. She tells you the celebrities she liked to interview and those she did not. She was very honest about her professional relationships with her colleagues like Harry Reasoner, Frank McGee, Star Jones and Rosie O'Donnell.
This book is a very thorough look at her life from beginning till now. It is a complete history of her life with humor sprinkled through out each chapter. I am so glad I read this book. It makes me want to learn more about her, watch "The View", listen to her new radio show that is replaying her "Specials" and google every name mentioned in her book. I also feel like I have completed a history lesson. A lesson through the eyes of one of the best female journalists of our time.To the woman who traveled everywhere, met almost every important person there was to meet and achieved more than ever imagined, thank you for setting an example for the woman of today. Bravo!!
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