This is her unfiltered biography with stories from her teenage years as she was discovering her talents in 1950s Greenwich Village with “kinda cute” fellow acting student Dustin Hoffman and meeting Elliot Gould. From growing up to leaving home in Brooklyn to living in as she describes a railroad apartment, singing in nightclubs to pay the rent while pursuing an acting career.

I thought it would take much longer to read this tome - it is 967 pages, but I found it so enthralling it took half the time I expected, There are many little gems to read such as the importance she places on the pronunciation of her surname, most of us say it incorrectly, and why she changed the spelling of her first name.

With her many interests and multiple layers in her life, her determination to become an actor from childhood and to also sing, she shares all these including her roles as a feminist, her interest and supporter in politics and anti-discrimination on all levels.

Streisand says that she inherited her voice from her mother who would sing in their home and at family get togethers but unfortunately her mother did not pursue her talents any further. Reading about the fractious relationship with her mother it is quite clear that her mother was jealous of her daughter’s success and fame.

 It is so sad to read that at one of the first major Broadway shows when receiving high praise from the critics in the NY Times for her excellent performance, all her mother could say to her was that her arms were too skinny.There are several times when this unhappy mother-daughter relationship pops up in the book as well as her uncaring and unkind step-father, who ironically had the surname Kind.

Clearly her father, Emmanuel Streisand was her shining light, although she did not know him for long as he died when she was little. Her mother rarely spoke of him to her and her brother Sheldon. She missed not growing up with him in her life so she could share his love and his love of literature and academia.

Fortunately she met people who would become almost surrogate parent figures to her in the early stages of her career who coached her acting skills but also welcomed her into their homes as part of the family. Frequently mentioned is her son, Jason Gould, whom she had when married to Elliot Gould. She calls him, her joy and the light of her life.

She spills the beans on fellow actors, directors, producers, mostly good such as the people she loved working with and respected immensely such as William Wyler from Universal Studios, Marvin Hamlisch the highly talented composer and conductor, her one time neighbour Gregory Peck, Steven Sondheim, Sydney Pollack and far too many more to name individually in this review. And then there are the others, such as Sidney Chaplin who made and left an unwanted lasting effect. Thank goodness she broke free from him and a few others.

Reading about how she has renovated homes from top to bottom, one can only imagine how beautiful they are, especially with her love for fine American antiques, furniture and her love of art, especially Gustav Klimt and Modigliani. Yet she always remembers how difficult it was in the beginning, never losing focus of what she wanted to achieve.

Streisand often mentions and talks about her relationships with her long term friends such as fashion designer Donna Karan, Virginia Clinton (Bill’s mother), Madeleine Albright, meeting and becoming friends with Marlon Brando - she had a teenage crush on him, Marty her long time manager and Renata her assistant for over sixty years who initially only went to work for her for a few months so she could earn some money to visit Disneyland.

There is a paragraph in which she talks about the language differences between men and women as seen in our society which I could not help but say, “Yes”, out aloud, to each one.”A man is commanding, a women is demanding; he’s committed, he’s forceful; a woman is pushy; he strategizes, she manipulates” and so on. Many women reading this will agree wholeheartedly. 

Being sure of herself, standing her ground about what is important for her professional life, rather than being swayed by others’ wishes, has been a great benefit. Just as her need to have creative control in her work features strongly, it is easy to see why as she explains how many of her creative contributions have turned out to be the winning formula in movies, records and her live performances. Barbra Streisand also speaks of her vulnerabilities especially her stage fright which can be quite severe and what she does to overcome these. 

There is a pronunciation used in the Linda Rickman skit which had been played by Mike Myers about a Jewish woman in New York with big hair and long nails on Saturday Night Live for years. She had to choose which performance she would do at her MGM Grand show and chose the one in which Linda Rickman famously said her voice was like buttah. Yes, Americans pronounce butter with rolling rrrrs.

Reading in great detail about her role as a director in the movies Yentl which was part of her life for fifteen years and Prince of Tides shows her perfectionism and how it is fundamentally important to their success. These chapters are lengthy and go into every aspect, sometimes scene by scene talking about the lighting, working with the camera men and cinematographers. It was just as important for every detail for the success of her live concerts, even though she hated performing in front of large audiences,

She also talks about treating people well, no matter what their role is and has asked directors why they spoke so badly to some young actors and dancers and told them it is unnecessary. One replied, that yes he knows that he can be harsh in the way he treats dancers, but it didn’t matter, after all he was married to one so he didn’t think it was that bad. Another interesting aspect is reading about her generosity for several benefits for furthering education, relating back to her father.

Her first meeting James Brolin, her husband, is hilarious. As it turns out he was the person for whom she had been looking a long time, but didn’t realise it and she describes what sounds like a beautiful small-ish wedding which thanks to the paparazzi had to be held indoors.

There are plenty of phoros, three sections of photographs and many with her fellow actors, friends and her family. 

This is also Barbra’s opportunity to set the records straight when talking about the nonsense published about her such as being difficult to work with. There are many negative and untruthful stories made up by the media to sell their newspapers and magazines. There are scores of shared letters and notes of appreciation from fellow actors, writers, producers and directors. What comes across is the real person behind the persona, the celebrity, rather her thoughts, views and that her family and friends matter dearl . Her genuine personality shines through. She also addresses the people who criticised her looks, her nose - which she loves and so much more.

Overall My Name is Barbara is throughly enjoyable reading about one of the greatest performers of our time and a look into the real person. This is one of the books I will enjoy reading again at a later date.

This is independent review, I am not paid by the publishers, so.If you Liked this review - Buy me a coffee 

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