Streisand: Her Life

This compulsively readable, monumental work is based on more than 200 interviews with Barbra's family, friends and colleagues. James Spada has followed Barbra's life and career for forty-five years and paints an intimate, frequently surprising portrait of a woman who continues to capture the public's imagination as few others ever have. Every aspect of Barbra’s life and work is covered in detail, from her father’s upbringing in the teeming ethnic ghettos of New York City through the filming of Barbra's latest movie, “The Guilt Trip.” Her closest childhood friends talk about the gawky misfit who sought surrogate parents; her Broadway coworkers reveal the rancorous breakup between Barbra and her “Funny Girl” costar; the costume designer of “The Way We Were” describes Redford's anxiety about doing a love scene with her; we learn intimate details about many of Barbra's lovers (Tommy Smothers, Omar Sharif, Ryan O'Neal, Warren Beatty, Elvis Presley, Prime Minister Trudeau, Don Johnson, James Brolin) and her often tempestuous, sometimes violent relationship with Jon Peters. Also included are the extraordinary backstage details of her most famous films—“Funny Girl”, “Hello, Dolly!”, What's Up, Doc?”, “The Way We Were”, A Star Is Born”, “The Prince of Tides” and “Meet the Fockers”—her albums, concerts, television appearances and political activism. This New York Times bestseller has been expanded and updated and is packed with photos. A must for all Streisand devotees.