Summary
The definitive Streisand biography. "Perceptive, illuminating, and immensely readable". -- Hollywood Reporter
"This, at last, is the definitive Barbra book. Anne Edwards' exhaustive research, personal firsthand knowledge, and riveting style all combine in a biographical saga so awesome it ought to be a movie". -- Rex Reed
For the first time, New York Times bestselling biographer Anne Edwards tells the story-behind-the-story of the legendary Barbra Streisand, revealing the inner demons that have driven her career -- and shaped her tumultuous personal life. Based on interviews with more than 140 of Streisand's friends, family, lovers, associates, and enemies -many of whom go on the record for the first time -- Streisand takes you on a revelatory journey, from her Brooklyn beginnings to the controversies surrounding her latest movie, The Mirror Has Two Faces. Through it all, we come to know the real Barbra Streisand as we've never known her before.
"A sterling example of diva lit...never less than fascinating". -- Publishers Weekly
"Edwards brings Streisand so much to life, she leaps off the pages. It's a 'warts and all' biography in the grand tradition". -- Barbara Taylor Bradford
"A panoply of delicious tidbits...tremendously appetizing". -- Newsday
Published Reviews
Booklist Review:
"It's hard to write a bad biography of Barbra Streisand or, for that matter, a really good one. Her life is so filled with moments of high drama (the death of her father, her almost instant and long-lasting stardom), to say nothing of her well-known personality quirks, that even a bland writer sticking to a just-the-facts approach can't help but hold most readers' attention. On the other hand, the details of Streisand's life are so well known that books about her often read like overly familiar fairy tales. Veteran biographer Edwards, whose previous subjects include Judy Garland and Margaret Mitchell, tries to counter the familiarity problem with interviews from numerous, often unnamed sources. This adds an insider's air, partly because Edwards rarely manages to snag a quote from anyone who has something good to say about Streisand. Even so, this doesn't come across as a particularly nasty book since Edwards manages to remain awestruck in the face of her subject's life. One would think that libraries with other Streisand biographies on hand, especially James Spada's 1995 effort, could take a pass on this one, since it adds very little that is new. Still, the book is certain to be in some demand from Streisand's voracious fans. Maybe you just can't have too many biographies about a diva whose life has been center stage for so long. After all, fairy tales never really lose their appeal. --Ilene Cooper"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review:
"Veteran celeb biographer Edwards's life of Barbara Streisand is a sterling example of diva lit. The book is energized by the author's love/hate relationship with her subject. Streisand's well-known story is recounted in compelling and evocative detail, from her escape from an emotionally withholding mother, through her early stardom in Funny Girl and Hello, Dolly!, to her current status as film auteur and pop icon. Edwards (Vivien Leigh) portrays a performer convinced of her own star quality even as a beginner‘stealing the Broadway show I Can Get It for You Wholesale in a small part and battling for control of her movies with veteran directors like William Wyler, Gene Kelly and Vincente Minnelli (and winning as often as not)‘and generally turning every song, performance and motion picture into an ode to herself. Streisand has not endeared herself to colleagues. Walter Matthau is quoted as calling her "a boa constrictor" and, in her acknowledgments, Edwards cites "over a hundred people" who spoke to her but did not want their names used. Throughout, Edwards mixes breathless awe at Streisand's talent and indomitable willpower with obvious contempt for what the author sees as the actress's narcissism, arrogance and lack of concern for others. Thus, Edwards can condemn "the extraordinary meanness of the press" only 20 pages after thumping Streisand for her "strikingly egotistical manner" in taking sole credit for The Prince of Tides. In the end, the book seems a lot like Streisand herself: many times far from lovable, but never less than fascinating. The book includes full listings of Streisand's film, recording, TV and theatrical credits, as well as photos, not seen by PW. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved"
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Additional Information
| Subjects |
Streisand, Barbra.
Singers
-- United States
-- Biography.
|
| Publisher |
Boston :Little, Brown,1997
|
| Edition |
1st ed. |
| Language |
English
|
| Description |
600 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
|
| Bibliography Notes |
Filmography: pages 529-536.
Discography: pages 544-561.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 587-591) and index.
|
| ISBN |
0316211389
|
| Other |
Classic View |