And you can get a sneak peek.
Barbra Streisand is finally telling her story in her own words. The acclaimed singer and actress is the narrator for the audiobook for her forthcoming memoir, My Name Is Barbra, and luckily Penguin Random House Audio shared a sneak peek of it.
In a short clip posted on YouTube, the 81-year-old recalled facing intense scrutiny for her looks when she got her start as a young actress, including her breakout role performance in the hit 1968 musical, Funny Girl. “Sometimes it felt like my nose got more press than I did,” she quips.
As we eagerly await the release of her highly-anticipated memoir, here’s a look at some of the newly released details and why her audiobook is already making history.
What do we know about Barbra Streisand’s memoir?
Streisand’s memoir, which is set to be released on Nov. 7, details her decades-long career on stage and the big screen. (Over the course of her life, she has earned an impressive array of accolades, including two Oscars, 10 Grammys, five Emmys, four Peabody Awards, 11 Golden Globes, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.) She also writes about her humble beginnings growing up in Brooklyn, where she went to school with legendary singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, and her struggles to become an actress while working at nightclubs.
On top of all that, Streisand had to navigate unwarranted personal remarks from various critics. She pointed to her 1964 cover in Time Magazine, where a writer called her nose “a shrine” and then went on to compare her to a Basset hound.
“I wish I could say none of this affected me, but it did, even after all of these years, I’m still kind of hurt by the insults and can’t quite believe the praise,” she says. “I guess when you become famous, you become public property — you’re an object to be examined, photographed, analyzed, dissected, and half the time I don’t recognize the person they portray.”
But she reveals happier times, too, such as the stories behind recording many of her iconic albums, including the soundtrack for the movie Yentl, which she directed and starred in. Plus, she gives an inside look into her friendships with celebrities like Marlon Brando and her marriage to actor James Brolin.
Wait, isn’t there an audiobook too?
Well, you’re in luck — the audiobook release will feature exclusive content, including dozens of excerpts from Streisand’s Broadway shows, albums, and movies. This includes “The Way We Were,” “Evergreen” and “Woman in Love,” which was written by Bee Gees members Barry and Robin Gibb for her Platinum-selling album Guilty.
In true Streisand fashion, you can also expect “added more color and background to her stories” as well as guests like late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert. Penguin Random House Audio reports that the audiobook is 48 hours long — which is the longest audiobook that the publisher has ever produced, so bring your popcorn.
“Dozens of books have been written about Streisand and her career,” the publisher said in a statement. “And now in My Name Is Barbra, she tells her story in her own words.”
Why is Streisiend releasing a memoir now?
It seems almost hard to believe that Streisand hasn’t released a memoir yet, but it has been a long time in the making — four decades, to be exact, according to Streisand. “For 40 years, publishers have been asking me to write an autobiography but I kept turning them down because I prefer to live in the present rather than dwell in the past,” she said.
Streisand revealed that her hesitation to write the book also had to do with concerns over whether anyone would actually believe her, citing all the tabloid stories over the years. In the clip of her audiobook, she recounted how a stranger chose to believe a story about how she was difficult to work with over her friend, someone who actually knew her.
“That’s the power of the written word and there was no hope of changing this man’s mind,” she says. “He chose to believe some writer who had never met me rather than the person who really knows me — that upsets me deeply.”
