Streisand: Her Life - Softcover

Spada, James

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233 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0804111197 ISBN 13: 9780804111195

Publisher: Ivy Books, 1996

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"FASCINATING . . The story of the public's discovery of a genius and the genius's discovery of herself."
--The New York Times Book Review
"AS CLOSE TO A DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHY OF STREISAND AS POSSIBLE. . . . The strength of Spada's book lies in his meticulous research."--Newsday
She's been a part of our lives for more than thirty-five years, her full and luscious voice defining the sound of music for a generation. Now, bestselling celebrity biographer James Spada--who interviewed more than two hundred people for this book--puts it all on the record. With compassion and honesty, Spada reveals the private Barbra Streisand, including her lonely Brooklyn childhood with a disapproving mother and abusive stepfather, her hunger to perform, the discovery of her stunning voice, and the short, hard climb that took her to the height of Broadway stardom when she was only twenty-one. Here, too, are the startling details of Barbra's obsessive need for control and power, her excessive demands for money, and the amazing men in her life--from Elliot Gould, Jon Peters, and Omar Sharif to Ryan ONeal, Warren Beatty, and Don Johnson. A stunning woman with an incomparable voice that only improves with age, Barbra Streisand has proved herself one of the most creative, compelling, and controversial women of
our time.
"ENGROSSING . . . There is plenty of material here to amuse, entertain and even illuminate her carefully guarded life."
--Los Angeles Times
"WELL WRITTEN, LIVELY, AND ASSIDUOUSLY RESEARCHED."
--Liz Smith

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About the Author:

James Spada is the author of fourteen books, including the international bestsellers Peter Lawford: The Man Who Kept the Secrets, Grace: The Secret Lives of a Princess, Monroe:  Her Life in Pictures, and Streisand: The Woman and the Legend.

Born and raised in Staten Island, New York, he founded a Marilyn Monroe Fan Club at thirteen and edited its journals for four years.  As a college student in 1969, he began a political quarterly devoted exclusively to Senator Edward M. Kennedy.  He spent the summer of 1970 as a Senate intern in Kennedy's Boston office.

In 1977, Spada became the only author to write an authorized career biography of Robert Redford.  In 1981 and 1982, his best-selling pictorial books about Barbra Streisand and Marilyn Monroe were published, followed by studies of Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, Bette Midler, Jane Fonda, Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty, and Katharine Hepburn. His 1987 book, Grace, spent nine weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was translated in thirteen languages. His Peter Lawford biography was serialized by Vanity Fair in 1991 and also became a New York Times bestseller.

He lives in Los Angeles.

From Booklist:

Spada has proven himself an adept and engaging biographer of stellar women in his books about Grace Kelly, Bette Davis, and now the ever controversial and compelling Streisand. Diva, stage and film actress, movie director, and liberal activist, Streisand has moved audiences to tears and laughter with her inimitable voice, bewitching presence, and gutsy humor. Her allure is based as much on her persistent insecurity as it is on her talent, a fact Spada illuminates in his account of her very tough Brooklyn childhood. Streisand suffered poverty and abuse but never wavered in her determination to be on stage in spite of being told, repeatedly, that she was impossibly ugly. Voraciously intelligent, creative, and kooky as they come, Streisand accentuated her physical uniqueness by dressing exotically, exaggerating her outsiderness, and singing with transcendent passion. Spada's description of her abrupt rise to fame--she was on the cover of Time at age 21 for her performance in Funny Girl is positively exhilarating, while his rundown of the production of every one of her shows, recordings, and films reveals the complexity of her artistic personality. And, of course, there's romance as Spada discusses Streisand's relationships with Elliott Gould, Omar Sharif, Ryan O'Neal, Jon Peters, and Don Johnson. It's a pleasure to have a fair and celebratory portrait of the multitalented Streisand, one of the world's most "gloriously successful misfits." Donna Seaman

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