This book was quite interesting.... Barbara Walters shared a lot about her life - including her family and husbands, as well as her professional career! ( )

Before reading this, all I knew about Barbara Walters was that she was famous for making celebrities cry and she was on "The View" sometimes. Now I appreciate her so much more for the way that she opened doors for women in the field of journalism. Insights into her personal life are interesting too - unlucky at love and family but one beautiful daughter seems to make up for all of that. I really, really enjoyed this book and it was perfect to read as the 2008 presidential election wound down. ( )

27-Apr-2013: A coworker gave me this book to read years ago. I finally made the time to read it. It is a long read (~600 pages), but worth it in the end. Ms. Walters has had a very interesting life.

One issue I had with the book (beyond it length) was her "voice". The book is in first person and "sounds" like she sounds live. There are times I find her voice grating. It isn't a sound problem, it is a tone problem for me. At the same time, she is one accomplished lady, so I feel a bit silly criticizing this aspect of the story. Still, for me, it is part of the reason it took me so long to read the book. ( )

Here we have the memoir of an over-achiever, for sure. Walters is not a scintillating writer, but it’s still an interesting memoir, because she’s experienced so much history firsthand. She’s not afraid to reveal times when she felt inadequate, and there are a lot of them.

She persevered in spite of the fact that nobody really took much account of her at first. She was just a girl on TV, basically someone to pour the coffee, and she had to work incredibly hard to be taken even slightly seriously. The title refers to the fact that Walters always felt that she was auditioning, that she never felt all that secure in her job.

Walters explores the psychological reasons for this with great honesty. We learn about her childhood, her marriages, her stormy relationship with her daughter. She doesn’t reveal anything very steamy, and most of the characters in this book, from family members to celebrities, come across as nice, sometimes just mildly nice and sometimes really nice. If she didn’t like them, she doesn’t dwell on them. She retains her professional objectivity no matter what’s going on. She comes across as a very nice woman.
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After more than 40 years interviewing heads of state, world leaders, movie stars, criminals and murderers, inspirational figures and celebrities of all kinds, the most influential woman in the history of television journalism finally writes her memoir. Barbara Walters's perception of the world was formed from a very early age. Her father, Lou Walters, was the owner and creative mind behind the legendary Latin Quarter nightclub, and it was his risk-taking lifestyle that gave Barbara her first taste of glamour. It also made her aware of the ups and downs, the insecurities, and even the tragedies that can occur when someone is willing to take such great risks, for Lou Walters not only made several fortunes - he also lost them.

Barbara learned early about the damage that such an existence can do to relationships - between husband and wife as well as between parent and child. Throughout her roller-coaster ride of a childhood, Barbara had a constant companion, her mentally-challenged sister, Jackie. True, Jackie taught her younger sister much about patience and compassion, however Barbara also writes honestly about the resentment she often felt having a sister who was so "different" and the guilt that still haunts her.

All of this - the financial responsibility for her family, the fear, the love - played a large part in the choices Barbara made as she grew up: the friendships she developed, the relationships she had, the marriages she tried to make work. Ultimately, thanks to her drive, as well as a decent amount of luck, she began a career in television. And what a career it has been! Against incredible odds, Barbara has made it to the top of a male-dominated industry. She is a true trail-blazer within the industry, becoming the most trusted television journalist of all time. She has not only interviewed the world's most fascinating figures, she has become a part of their world.

I really enjoyed this book! After having it on my bookshelf unread for almost three years, I finally took the plunge and read it. At 579 pages, I was somewhat daunted to begin reading, despite really wanting to read this book almost from the moment it was published! Overall, it was an incredibly interesting and engaging book for me to read, even though there were one or two chapters that were slow reading. I must say that Barbara Walters has lived an incredibly exciting life and has done much to be admired for by her peers. Ultimately, I give Audition: A Memoir by Barbara Walters an A+! ( )