Barbara Walters, arguably the most important woman in the history of television, has had an amazingly full life. In the bestselling Audition...
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Jan 11, 2012
Ryan
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Barbara Walters's Audition is a massive, entertaining memoir that chronicles her troubled family life as she became one of television's most respected journalists.
My draw to the book was its focus on a television journalist who hob-knobs with celebrities, heads of state and American politicians while she juggles a career and a family life. Walters goes into great detail of growing up alongside her mentally disabled sister Jackie, her showman father Lou and later bringing up her adopt More...
My draw to the book was its focus on a television journalist who hob-knobs with celebrities, heads of state and American politicians while she juggles a career and a family life. Walters goes into great detail of growing up alongside her mentally disabled sister Jackie, her showman father Lou and later bringing up her adopt More...
Aug 24, 2008
Bridget
rated it: 
This isn't a particularly well-written memoir, but certainly a worthwhile read (especially if you have an uncontrollable love of The View, like me).
Barbara Walters had a really interesting childhood - her father was a nightclub producer who constantly went between success and bankruptcy, so Babs grew up on each end of the economic spectrum.
Her career in television was pretty groundbreaking, which we take for granted at this point. She had no background in journalism, bu More...
Barbara Walters had a really interesting childhood - her father was a nightclub producer who constantly went between success and bankruptcy, so Babs grew up on each end of the economic spectrum.
Her career in television was pretty groundbreaking, which we take for granted at this point. She had no background in journalism, bu More...
Jul 01, 2008
Karynn
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I really enjoyed this book. I am not a huge fan of non-fiction but found Barbara's story both informative and entertaining. She really had to work to get to where she is today and personally gave up a lot on the way.
The peak back into history was also very interesting and as she points out in the book, issues that we are facing today are issues that we have faced in the recent past. Barbara was a newswoman who was able to interview many of the world’s leaders (Fidel Castro, Yasi More...
The peak back into history was also very interesting and as she points out in the book, issues that we are facing today are issues that we have faced in the recent past. Barbara was a newswoman who was able to interview many of the world’s leaders (Fidel Castro, Yasi More...
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Jul 14, 2008
Hilda
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I finally finished "Audition". It took me a long time not because it's difficult to read - it's definitely not - I just read it in small increments. I really enjoyed the book. Although quite long (500+ pages) I didn't find it had any slow sections, which i find often happens in long books, particularly memoirs.
I've always liked Walters well enough, and this book may have made me like her a bit less. Although her professional accomplishments are spectacular, no question More...
I've always liked Walters well enough, and this book may have made me like her a bit less. Although her professional accomplishments are spectacular, no question More...
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Jun 16, 2008
Erica
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I cant remember why i wanted to read this book, but apparently I requested it from the library. I was a little apprehensive about trying to read it in 7 days due to the length and the fact that i seem to have a short attention span these days (Livermore Library only lets you check out new books for 7 days! a policy change is in order - at least give us 10).
The book is actually well written and kept my attention throughout. It was interesting to read about how she started out in the More...
The book is actually well written and kept my attention throughout. It was interesting to read about how she started out in the More...
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Jan 14, 2010
Kellie
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I read this in 2008. It was chosen as a bookclub book so I'm overjoyed to read it again....
2008 review...
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 More...
2008 review...
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 More...
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Oct 02, 2008
Red
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Meh. It was interesting reading about Barbara's early life, but once she started her actual career it was just name dropping to the Nth degree. I actually skipped around the last 2/3rds of the book. Read the chapter entitled "Sept. 11th, and then nothing else mattered." But only a few paragraphs actually deal with the tragedy and how she felt or responded and the rest is just more of the same this name and that name. Blah, blah, blah. Possibly the most informative chapter for me, was t
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Mar 02, 2009
Masamune's Song
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The early reminisces of her childhood are far more engaging than the disconnected series of remembered interviews. Far too much attention to what everyone wears and how it coordinates for my taste, but perhaps she needed this to work in TV. But the repeated use of the phrase "I've never said this before" makes me question whether I am now, in truth, getting the "whole" story.
I found the Monica Lewinsky story a little disturbing, because it describes some of the More...
I found the Monica Lewinsky story a little disturbing, because it describes some of the More...
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Jul 07, 2008
Librarian
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Stay with me here. It was good, really. Yes, Barbara Walters is cheesy. Yes, she has antiquated ideas. But man, her life is interesting. She dated closeted Ray Cohn, partner in crime to Joseph McCarthy! Errol Flynn hit on her at a party! She was cooling out socially with Henry Kissinger! She had a Baroness working for her as her kid's governess! She doesn't seem to have any political misgivings about anything, which was a little disturbing. In fact, in true reporter form, perhaps, she steers awa
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Feb 18, 2009
Judy
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I wasn't sure that I was willing to read 600 pages about the life of Barbara Walters, but I'm glad that I took the plunge. A highly enjoyable book in which Walters peels back the layers of her life and let's us look inside. Her descriptions of her childhood with her father who was always looking for the pot of gold with his nightclubs in both Miami and New York (The Latin Quarter), a mentally challenged older sister, and a mother who was alternately depressed and anxious were fascinating. It'
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Feb 03, 2009
Ellen
rated it:
I read this book mostly because I like to butt into other people's business, honestly. I have watched The View and Barbara's interviews on tv, of course, and have always thought she was an intelligent woman and a good journalist, but beyond that haven't given much thought to her one way or the other - she always seemed very professional and proper. I pictured her going home in the evening to a nice cup of tea and feeling rich and smug. After reading her book, I can report that I was exactly h
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Jan 31, 2009
Sandie
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Who better to write a tell-all book about Barbara Walters than the woman herself. In her memoir, AUDITION, Walters tells of the men in her personal life; husbands and lovers who ranged from bland and boring to fascinating and profound. While she searched for, and to date has never found, the romantic Prince Charming to fulfill her private life, it seems that her professional life has more than compensated for those personal losses.
She has managed to cultivate a plethora of prominent More...
She has managed to cultivate a plethora of prominent More...
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Jan 03, 2009
Pris
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Is Barbara A Journalist Or Is She Cher?" asks WalterCronkite, May 22, 2008
"Walters nonetheless takes care to report on the very public drubbing she received at the hands of her male peers during the summer between her departure from "Today" and the start of her tenure at ABC. "I am trying to have an open mind about it," was the less-than-supportive statement her future co-anchor Harry Reasoner made to the papers. CBS News president Richard Salant asked, " More...
"Walters nonetheless takes care to report on the very public drubbing she received at the hands of her male peers during the summer between her departure from "Today" and the start of her tenure at ABC. "I am trying to have an open mind about it," was the less-than-supportive statement her future co-anchor Harry Reasoner made to the papers. CBS News president Richard Salant asked, " More...
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Feb 11, 2012
Jenny
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Here we have the memoir of an over-achiever, for sure. Walters is not a scintillating writer, but it’s still an interesting memoir, because she’s experienced so much history firsthand. She’s not afraid to reveal times when she felt inadequate, and there are a lot of them.
She persevered in spite of the fact that nobody really took much account of her at first. She was just a girl on TV, basically someone to pour the coffee, and she had to work incredibly hard to be taken even slig More...
She persevered in spite of the fact that nobody really took much account of her at first. She was just a girl on TV, basically someone to pour the coffee, and she had to work incredibly hard to be taken even slig More...
Feb 05, 2012
Readitnweep
rated it:
An interesting read - Ms. Walters was very open in telling about how she became the first woman in television journalism and how she continued to further her career for decades. She was a lot more open than I would have anticipated, had I thought about it. I came upon the book by surprise and I'm very glad I did. It's also a good insight on historical events and leaders of the last century and the reading flowed smoothly from one subject to the next.
I did skim through certain things More...
I did skim through certain things More...
Apr 29, 2011
I picked up this memoir from the bargain table at Borders and am glad I did. By the end of the 582nd page, I felt like I truly knew Barbara Walters. She is a very amazing woman ... a journalist who has worked incredibly hard, traveled and interviewed hundreds of the most famous and/or infamous people and been incredibly successful ... She is Jewish and has embraced that heritage somewhat but admits that her own family never really participated in any of the Jewish traditions and God has not
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Jan 24, 2011
Linda
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Grab a cup of coffee, sit down and let Barbara tell you her story. This book is almost like having her sit down with you and tell you face to face her life story. I was never a big fam of hers, but I very much enjoyed reading this book because she had so many interesting stories and has interviewed almost anyone who is anyone! I came away with a different impression of her than I had before reading the book. She isn't the stuck up, haughty woman she sometimes appears to be, but rather a reserved
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May 14, 2010
Amber
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My reading of this book was completely by accident. I got the book from my book club's annual book exchange and it sat on my shelf collecting dust for a couple of years. Alas, having recently finished my masters I was reading any non-textbook I could get my hands on... and my hands happened upon this. And, I'm so glad they did!
This book was a page turner! In interviews, Barbara describes the book as a lot of things (juicy, a fun read, a story of struggle), but the one thing she doesn More...
This book was a page turner! In interviews, Barbara describes the book as a lot of things (juicy, a fun read, a story of struggle), but the one thing she doesn More...
Jan 16, 2010
Gary
rated it:
Just finished her memoirs. She does a show once a year called "Ten Most Fascinating People". She deserves to be one of those people. Very fascinating book. No long review this time.
Except for a couple of observations. She admits in her book about a long time and very secretive love affair with former Sen. Edward Brooke, while he was still married. She talks about it and analyzes it from what would happen to their careers if it ever came out. There was no analyzes ab More...
Except for a couple of observations. She admits in her book about a long time and very secretive love affair with former Sen. Edward Brooke, while he was still married. She talks about it and analyzes it from what would happen to their careers if it ever came out. There was no analyzes ab More...
Sep 17, 2009
Jen
rated it:
Babs was a great read as far as a memoir goes. But not going to lie - as a journo junkie, I was drawn to the 500 page brick in hopes of tale of a self-aware ball buster who blazed a trail for journalistas. What a got was a way too detailed affair list and a passive narrator who interviewed "just the nicest/kindest/sweetest" people. Hokie Dokie shallow cookie. Sure everything was sugary sweet. Look Babs you're on the verge of retirement from one of the greatest careers EVER. I'm sure y
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Aug 21, 2009
Lorri
rated it:
Barbara Walters' story of her climb to the top is fascinating. She endured a lot of flack for being a woman, with Harry Reasoner openly scorning her on network news. While seen by some as audacious and pushy, she presents herself as always insecure about losing her job, hence her perfectionism, persistence, and the title "Audition," because she continually felt she was auditioning anew. While enduring backlash for being the first woman network anchor person, she received a card that sa
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Jul 17, 2009
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
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Jun 25, 2009
Scott
rated it:
I am sure there are going to be people who think that Barbara Walters is nothing more than an arrogant uptight snob who only interviews the rich and famous, let me say that would be a wrong assumption to make.
For years, I like millions of others have found Ms. Walters to be one the best journalist on tv. In Audition, Walters, who has a made living from drilling down to the personal lives others, finally opens up about her own private life.
Family is the core of the book. W More...
For years, I like millions of others have found Ms. Walters to be one the best journalist on tv. In Audition, Walters, who has a made living from drilling down to the personal lives others, finally opens up about her own private life.
Family is the core of the book. W More...
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Apr 11, 2009
Mazola1
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Audition is the fascinating and funny memoir of Barbara Walters, a pioneering woman in broadcasting. Walters really did live through the Golden Age of Television, indeed, she helped to make it so. In her storied career,she interviewed everyone from Presidents to murderers. From being taken on a jeep ride by Fidel Castro through the mountains of Cuba to doing a television special on Saudia Arabia, a country impossible for most outsiders to visit, she had and shared on television many unbelievea
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Dec 28, 2008
Harriet
rated it: 
I slugged through this book! Her early life was most interesting. But really tired of the intimate details of everything else. What? Did she keep a journal? How did she remember what everyone said? And the name dropping really got to me. I was determined to finish it, but it was done with a lot of speed reading.
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May 23, 2009
Suzanne
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Barbara Walters writes the way she talks and the informal style is conversational and pleasant. But something essential is missing in Barbara's recounting of her life. There is sadness and melodrama, affairs and broken marriages, professional triumphs and personal loss on every page in this lengthy book. Barbara is quite honest and critical in her self assessments and does not gloss over her personal mistakes. Nonetheless her life's meaning seems to be about "celebrity", not a sur
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Jun 19, 2008
Mara
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I am currently reading Barbara Walters memoir. It's very interesting and I'm only through 50 pages. I keep hearing her voice in my head narrating her life. Pretty cool... I haven’t reached anything scandalous yet, just a lot of background about her younger years. I was curious to learn she was (according to her)... "Very shy and introverted"... Hard to imagine that she made it in such an aggressive and cut throat profession... More to come I'm sure.
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Dec 13, 2008
Pat
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You have to like Barbara Walters at least a little bit in order to like this memoir. And there is a lot in the book that is interesting, from her childhood to her marriages and affairs to anecdotes about some of her more famous interviews to "behind the scenes" portraits of her relationships with people on the various TV shows she has worked on. However, it seems as if she "doth protest too much" abiout some of guilt she says she felt over her relationship with her parents
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Jul 10, 2010
Lisa
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This book is somewhat overlong--the information Walters provides about her family seems redundant after a while and toward the end you don't care about some of her chapters on interviews with criminals, Monica Lewinsky, et al. But her stories of her struggles beginning in the news business and of some of the interviews earlier in the book are quite interesting. The book provides insight into political and social happenings that surround Walters' life and she comes across as a good, caring person
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Aug 22, 2009
Patty
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I was surprised at how much I liked this book although I often wished it was not as detailed.....yet it was the details that kept you reading. I wonder if the book was edited at all.
Walters must have spent a large amount of time putting her story together. The fact that it was not confusing with it's many tales of personal life stories and facts and insights from hundreds of interviews and assignments makes me admit that Barbara Walters is a fine writer (or had a very good editor More...
Walters must have spent a large amount of time putting her story together. The fact that it was not confusing with it's many tales of personal life stories and facts and insights from hundreds of interviews and assignments makes me admit that Barbara Walters is a fine writer (or had a very good editor More...
