My Name Is Barbra by Barbra Streisand
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Web ID: 17302201Fantastic read!
I usually avoid books this long but I am a big fan of hers from way back and I am so glad I read it. This book is so full of information about her life, her career, movies, songs, records, etc., as well as the ins and outs of making, producing, writing songs and movies. I was very much interested in her family life as well. Barbra Streisand is a beautiful woman and such a fantastic singer and actress and I am so glad I took the time to read this wonderful book.
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Great stories
I wish I could contact Barbra herself. I cried through the Virginia Clinton chapter. What a life she’s had. This audiobook was gifted to me and I am so glad to have the book in her own voice
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Much More Than A Singer
Reading this book was like watching a rose open in slow motion. Every opening petal shows another side of Streisand, every movement sweet, rewarding, amazing. She acknowledges on page 957 of the 970 pages that she never took care of her voice, never did vocal exercises. "Singing was something I took for granted." Born with this miraculous voice, she frankly used it when her true preference---acting---escaped her early efforts. When that worked, she finally did get to act---then direct, produce, write, and dance, opining with each step, making things happen the way she wanted them to go because she always followed her own ideas, constantly seeking perfection as she saw it. This drive for perfection gave her the unfair reputation of being difficult or demanding. But actually, in her drive for the best, she learned. She researched. She worked creatively. She developed her personal interests---with antiques, art, music, fashion design, home decor, makeup, and finally, politics, always following her goals. Sorry she never went to college, her devotion to learning made life, her daily experiences, her own personal college education. As such she is undoubtedly smarter than many degreed professionals. And very likable. Her book is part memoire, with much self-analysis. As such, she teaches us about movie making as she learned it, talking in great detail about every possible aspect of stage or movie production. She talks of her art collection. She talks openly of the many people she loved and respected in all walks of her life, just as honestly of those less loved, those she didn't like, exactly why. Proud of her Jewish heritage and her Brooklyn upbringing she talks like a friend over coffee, with food, always with food! A woman of many talents, infinite interests, and wide-ranging opinions, Streisand is at bottom a child longing for 1) a father who died in her infancy, and 2) loving words from a mother who really wished she could herself wear her daughter's shoes. But the little girl still inside this marvelous person is as magical in her ideas/beliefs as she is in her voice. We hope that now happily married for 24 years has helped dilute at least some of the soreness caused by those parental losses. And we are glad to see her acknowledge the wonder of the voice we love: I'm very thankful that God gave me this instrument. It's the gift that started my career."
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BN Book Brandoned: My Name is Barbra
This is a massive treat for all fans of her music, films and want to know more about this extraordinary woman. I cannot tell you how interesting this autobiography was. Great details about her early life and told in a sublime way you fly through this nearly 1,000 page tome. Worth every minute spent reading it.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
FABULOUS read, like having Babs over for girl talk
MY NAME IS BARBRA This book was FABULOUS. I felt like she was sitting in my reading room and it was 4 days of girl talk. What an experience! I could feel her emotions as I read page after page (992 to be exact). I could feel her pushing herself further and further in her career. To me Barbra is an singer. I have all of her music (I have been a collector since A STAR IS BORN) and as each movie came out I was always asking, "Is she gonna sing?" The movies left me with such emotion (THE WAY WE WERE when he leaves her and they meet on the street at the end, should have been a sequel. A STAR IS BORN when she is singing his song at the end and then gave it her own spin). I felt her pain as she was shunned by her peers, the work and the need to make it as she saw it, her vision, her project. Toward the end when she started talking politics I wanted to say "OK Babs I love you but lets not talk politics (I have said that to many friends I love and we abide each others views) but who can stop her, she is on a roll. So I listened (read, I swear it was like she was in the room with me) and then I was so grateful for her passion for what she believed because it gave all of her fans more music. She started performing again. Music was her way to do something, make a difference with her concerts. It seems it always came back to music for her. But I feel she felt she was actress, writer, producer and director first. She never "got it" that her voice was what made her a STAR shining brighter than anyone else. I saw ELVIS when I was a teenager and have loved his music all my life, even the movies were great to me because it brough him into my space. This book has brought her into my space unlike any book I have read. I can't wait to buy the audio. I am a fan, and have been since the 70's. Who can NOT be a fan of that voice. My hats off to you Babs, what a great read, I enjoyed having you over for a few days.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A must read for all Barbra fans!
I’ve been a fan of Barbra Streisand since the mid 1980’s. In 8th grade I even wrote a research report on her! I’ve been waiting for her to write her autobiography and she didn’t disappoint! This book is a must read for all Barbra fans! It begins with her childhood and concludes with what is happening in her life right now. She talks about everything from her difficult relationship with her mom, her many relationships throughout the years, putting together albums, movies, concerts, and stories about her beloved dogs. My only criticism of this massive book is I got tired of the political content. (Full disclosure I agree with some of her political opinions and disagree with others so it’s not that I’m closed minded, there just was a lot). Run, don’t walk, and get this book!
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Barbra, We Can Hear You !
My Name Is Barbra is a deeply personal look inside Ms. Streisand's life and into herself as well. From Brooklyn, to Broadway, to Hollywood, Ms. Streisand takes us on a journey of self-discovery, self-acceptance and love. Filled with anecdotes about her work as well as her personal life, we get to know the real Barbra. Though a superstar, she shows us that she is just a regular person with hopes, dreams, fears, and insecurities. In other words, like the rest of us, she is human. When writing about Fox's U-Bet Chocolate syrup, or how much she enjoys eating, I can so relate! It's a Jewish thing after all. If you haven't read this book, run, don't walk, to your nearest library or bookstore and get a copy today! To paraphrase her famous song," People who read this memoir are the luckiest people.." !
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Simply Streisand!
Cannot peel my eyes off each sentences, paragraphs, pages, chapters and the entire book.
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