Reviews

Waaaaay too long. Because of mulllllltiple scene-by-scene, line-by-line descriptions of her movies, and word-for-word readings of how one person or the next told her or the general public how EXCEPTIONAL she is/was/always will be. I mean, you don’t go into a memoir NOT expecting a measure of self-possession, but Barbra’s was just over the top. To be fair, 1) how could she not be self-possessed when she’s been the centre of attention for 60 years, and 2) I don’t think she’s actually a complete narcissist, and 3) I think she’s simply got a pattern of proving her worth to herself and others based on a) external sources of approval and b) being right about everything. For these reasons, it was a tiring and frustrating read, but she has lived an interesting enough life to make the other parts worth reading. I just wish she had let an editor do their job.

Oh, and, point of note, I read it by audiobook, and honestly, her reading skills are … exceptional.

docnat's review against another edition

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slow-paced

4.0

sarahmoran27's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

2.0

sarah_mitra's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

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