First published 2008
Barbara Walters examines her path from the daughter of Latin Quarter nightclub owner Lou Walters to television's leading interviewer. She traces how her father's risky business ventures and the family's financial instability taught her early lessons about uncertainty and responsibility. Walters details her battles in a male-dominated television industry, documenting her marriages, relationships, and career moves with unflinching honesty. She applies the same direct questioning style she used with four decades of presidents, celebrities, criminals, and cultural icons to her own life story. The memoir exposes both her broadcasting successes and private difficulties. Walters presents her entire existence as continuous auditions, making this autobiography her most revealing performance. Readers get an insider's view of television journalism and the personal costs of breaking barriers in a profession that resisted women.
Genres: biography, autobiography, biography-memoir, journalism
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: insider-perspective, personal-journey
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
992 pages · Paperback · Random House Large Print