Barbra

The Way She Is

By: Christopher Andersen

Narrated by: Ellen Archer

She is a one-name legend, a global icon, the ultimate diva. Yet most of what we know about Barbra Joan Streisand is the stuff of caricature: the Brooklyn girl made good, the ugly duckling who blossomed into a modern-day Nefertiti, the political dilettante driving to the barricades in her Rolls-Royce, the Oscar-winning actress and bona fide movie mogul, the greatest female singer who ever lived, a skinflint, a philanthropist, a connoisseur, and a barbarian, the woman whose physical characteristics are instantly identifiable around the planet, the tapered nails, those slightly crossed eyes, that nose, the voice.

Even to the multitudes around the world who idolize her, Streisand remains aloof, unknowable, tantalizingly beyond reach. Until now. In the manner of his #l New York Times best sellers The Day Diana Died and The Day John Died, Christopher Andersen taps into important sources, eyewitnesses to Streisand's remarkable life and career, to paint a startling portrait of the artist, and the woman.

Whether you love her, hate her, or are simply spellbound by her titanic talent, Barbra is one thing above all others: a true American original.

©2006 Christopher Andersen; (P)2006 Tantor Media, Inc.

Please use a pronunciation guide!!

The book itself is really interesting, and just as juicy as I expected. I have been a Barbra fan since I was a young girl--and to hear about her amazing success (at such a young age, too!) is incredible. I take issue with the narration. Ellen Archer has a pleasant reading voice, but there are so many glaring errors in pronunciation of the names of very famous movie stars, with a bonus of different wrong pronunciations of the same name, that I think it detracts mightily from the listening experience. "Ellen Burstyn" becomes "Ellen Bernstein" twice. "Vivian Leigh" is "Vivian Lay" and "Leigh Taylor Young" vascillates between "Lay Taylor Young" and "Lee Taylor Young." She even has problems with actual words, like "vestige" and "bicuspids." I do not know if it was a rush job, but come on. It is annoying.

Excellent

For anyone interested in learning how Barbra came to be, this is a very helpful and fascinating telling of the saga.