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Barbara Walters (1929–2022)

Author of Audition: A Memoir

6 Works 1,038 Members 27 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Barbara Walters was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on September 25, 1929. She earned a B.A. in English from Sarah Lawrence College in 1951 and began her television career in the publicity department of an NBC affiliate in New York City. She went on to produce women's programs for an independent show more television station and later wrote and produced news and public affairs programs for CBS. In 1961 Walters became a writer and reporter for the NBC television show Today. She was a regular panel member on the show from 1963 to 1974, when she became co-host. In 1976 Walters signed a then-record $1 million contract and moved to the rival ABC network as correspondent and the first female co-anchor of network evening news. In 1979 she began her 25 years as co-host of the television news magazine 20/20. She is also known for the Barbara Walters Specials, an irregularly scheduled celebrity interview series, as well as her participation and patronage of the daytime women's talk show, The View. She was a contributor to the magazines Good Housekeeping, Family Weekly, and Reader's Digest, and in 1970 her popular book "How to Talk to Practically Anybody about Practically Anything" was published. She has also written the autobiography "Audition." In 1975 Walters was named broadcaster of the year by the International Radio and TV Society. She has won Daytime and Prime Time Emmy Awards and the GLAAD Excellence in Media award. Walters received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2007 and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Women's Agenda in 2008. In 2009 she was honored at the 30th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards with a Lifetime Achievement Award. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: Barbara Walters, Barbara Walters

Image credit: Photo by Christopher Peterson.

Works by Barbara Walters

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This book was quite interesting.... Barbara Walters shared a lot about her life - including her family and husbands, as well as her professional career!
 
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yukon92 | 24 other reviews | Jan 17, 2020 |
Before reading this, all I knew about Barbara Walters was that she was famous for making celebrities cry and she was on "The View" sometimes. Now I appreciate her so much more for the way that she opened doors for women in the field of journalism. Insights into her personal life are interesting too - unlucky at love and family but one beautiful daughter seems to make up for all of that. I really, really enjoyed this book and it was perfect to read as the 2008 presidential election wound down.
 
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olegalCA | 24 other reviews | Dec 9, 2014 |
27-Apr-2013: A coworker gave me this book to read years ago. I finally made the time to read it. It is a long read (~600 pages), but worth it in the end. Ms. Walters has had a very interesting life.

One issue I had with the book (beyond it length) was her "voice". The book is in first person and "sounds" like she sounds live. There are times I find her voice grating. It isn't a sound problem, it is a tone problem for me. At the same time, she is one accomplished lady, so I feel a bit silly criticizing this aspect of the story. Still, for me, it is part of the reason it took me so long to read the book.… (more)
½
 
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wordsforfun | 24 other reviews | Apr 28, 2013 |
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 slightly seriously. The title refers to the fact that Walters always felt that she was auditioning, that she never felt all that secure in her job.

Walters explores the psychological reasons for this with great honesty. We learn about her childhood, her marriages, her stormy relationship with her daughter. She doesn’t reveal anything very steamy, and most of the characters in this book, from family members to celebrities, come across as nice, sometimes just mildly nice and sometimes really nice. If she didn’t like them, she doesn’t dwell on them. She retains her professional objectivity no matter what’s going on. She comes across as a very nice woman.
… (more)
 
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astrologerjenny | 24 other reviews | Apr 25, 2013 |

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Works
6
Members
1,038
Popularity
#24,807
Rating
½ 3.7
Reviews
27
ISBNs
20
Languages
1
Favorited
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