First published 2012
Barbra Streisand arrives in Manhattan at seventeen with talent but no money or connections. Her mother delivers soup to keep her fed while she attends acting classes and struggles to survive. The Brooklyn teenager auditions for small parts and performs in nightclub gigs, slowly building her reputation in the competitive entertainment world of 1960s New York City. Behind the scenes, choreographers Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse reshape Funny Girl from a Fanny Brice biography into a vehicle designed specifically for Streisand's unique talents. Marketing strategists craft campaigns to promote her unconventional image while she navigates complicated relationships with friends and lovers. Television appearances, including a memorable performance with Judy Garland, expand her audience beyond Broadway theaters. William Mann traces this remarkable transformation using private papers from major figures and interviews with people who knew her before fame changed everything. The book reveals a vulnerable young woman beneath her ambitious exterior, someone who rewrote the rules about what a star could be.
Genres: biography, drama, romance, historical-fiction, 20th-century, american
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: rags-to-riches, underdog
Setting: Brooklyn, Manhattan, New York City
Period: 1960s
566 pages · Hardcover · Houghton Mifflin Harcourt