My Name Is Barbra

I loved everything about your book. I purchased the Audible version and the Kindle version (My dog eats books--I would be horrified if I found your book torn up in pieces). I am glad I purchased both versions. The photos I can look at on my Kindle and I get to hear your voice reading throughout on my Audible app. Your voice is soothing. It is articulate, and with such great diction. I appreciated so many thoughts through out your book. One that struck me was when you told the person to pick up the garment that was on the ground (for you to walk on). Then you stated to never do that for anyone. It showed dignity on your part for the other--you weren’t so full of yourself to walk that path. You were taking on the burden of the other, as a form of Mussar lens. Your tone brought your point to that person, to where they probably had to think and think what you were expressing and why. To me, I interpreted your dialog as the same tone expressed from keeping someone from touching a hot flame or keeping a child from running into traffic. You were letting that person know, no one should be treated as if their poop doesn’t stink. People with huge egos would have walked right over that garment. Your intent was Kavod (Respectful and Honorable). This next comment has to do with the movie ‘Yentl.’ I was born intersexed and always felt like a man in a woman’s body. As a child I wanted to play with boy’s toys. I have an identical twin and she supports DeSantis and all of his hate toward LGBT+ persons. I can’t go to Florida to use a bathroom, no one is immune to being arrested if someone wanted to make someone’s day miserable. I’d have to worry if some medical professional would step away and let me die, because they have laws that protect them. Deep down my twin is hurt that I no longer look pretty and like her. I watched Yentl many times when the videotape came out. I identified with wanting more and not being expected to darn my husband’s socks. We were in the Army at the time that I watched Yentl in a movie theatre. I told my husband many times to take care of his issues by himself. I wasn’t about to take over where his mother left off. I married to hide my then lesbianism. I married to get out of the barracks, and to have a child. My son is going on 39, is gay, and the most wonderful human. It wasn’t until I learned I had cervical cancer that I had my female reproductive organs removed. As a part of cancer surgery, they send everything to pathology to make sure nothing has spread. That is when I learned my left ovary that never released an ovum, couldn’t because it was an ovotestee. Medically, I was a true hermaphrodite (Intersexed is the correct term these days). I loved Yentl so much that I name a red Dachshund-- ‘Avigdor’ and a red and white Jack Russell--Esther Hadass. May they rest in peace. As for your event with the Jewish Medium, it was as if the floor was the ‘Ouija Board’ and the table the ‘planchette.’ I believe you were given that message from your father. What I learned from you and this book is this... You write the way you would speak. It was so personal, revealing, vulnerable, and your absolute truth. I admire that. You would tell people what you thought, but with no malice. You took the time to figure out what was going on in order to fix it and move on. You are brilliant in so many ways--your attention to detail. You question everything. The little things do matter. You are not afraid of a ‘Chain of Command.’ You aren’t afraid to ask, ‘Why?’ Or to say, ‘No, I won’t do that.’ Not to be stubborn, but because it is the right thing to do in the moment. It was not about pumping your ego. I like that. I did that too in the military-- ‘Where is it written?’ I am now living as a Trans masculine human being. My own rabbi went along with a woman that called me creepy a couple of times in front of the entire congregation. When we had a Zoom meeting about it, they both basically said if I didn’t look the way I did, no one would bully me. I paused then asked them, ‘How would a blind person see me?’ At the end of the meeting I stated, ‘This is exactly why I like dogs more than people. Dogs have never treated me the way people have.’ I won’t step foot back into that building. If someone asks if I am a woman or a man, I say, ‘Yes’ and smile. I sound like a woman, have small feet, small hands; I’m losing my hair off of my head, and have a full beard. I am very happy being my authentic self as G-d has made me. I am a Jew, but I no longer go to shul. I light Shabbat candles. I dropped the given name ‘Sharon’ and legally had my birth certificate changed to ‘male’ and the name of ‘Anshel’ as my permanent first name. My struggle wasn’t with what Singer’s ‘Anshel’ was struggling with--being able to study Torah and having to live as a man to do so, my struggle was as a woman or a man, I felt a depth that I couldn’t express. I didn’t have the words. I literally was born both female and male. Thank you for being a model of risk taking, standing your ground, and pursuing anything that has a strong message for everyone. What you are doing is a mitzvah. You are an incredible author, singer, songwriter, actress, and mensch. Anshel Bomberger Georgetown, CO

I’ve always thought Barbra Streisand was an interesting person. Have never been a huge fan of her art, although her “Greatest Hits Vol. 2” album is a guilty pleasure. She just always struck me as someone who was very intelligent and very much in control of her career. This book presents that same portrait. Streisand was on the Howard Stern show the week the book was released. It seemed like a very odd pairing, but during the two and half hour interview she told many of the stories from the book. I decided to get the book and delve in deeper. The book is very well written and keeps your attention throughout. It feels as if she’s just sitting there sharing her stories with you. She takes the reader album by album, film by film, event by event through her life. Each album gets a mention, some go into more detail than others, but you learn which ones she liked, which ones she didn’t. For instance she says her album “ButterFly” was the idea of her then boyfriend Jon Peters, she thought the whole thing was weird, but it ended up being a big seller. For the “Wet” album she had the idea for the concept while taking a bath. Then she had photos taken for the album and just had to record songs for it. Same with the movies. She goes into great detail about the movies she’s directed. Along the way, you see that she’s kind of directed all of her movies, either directly or indirectly. She is very open about all aspects of her career. Cracking jokes along the way as well. The running theme through the book is her wanting the love of an emotionally distant mother and a missing father, who died when she was an infant. It was only after her mother’s death did she ever learn why her mother was so distant. I found the book highly engrossing and a page turner. Even if you’re not a fan it’s a fascinating look at the life of a very talented women who knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to pursue her dream.

I loved this book! Growing up, my Mom was a fan of Barbra Streisand's music & movies. She loved Yentl, A Star is Born and The Way We Were. I liked her movie Nuts and others. But, I have even more respect and adoration for her after reading this book. I'm not sure I have ever read a book of 970 pages, but I enjoyed the entire thing and was sad when it was over. It felt like she was just talking with you about her life. It clarified a lot of the work she's done for me, that I sort of knew about but not really. She is smart, a great writer, an amazing singer and a wonderful actress. She had to fight her way through it all. Her speech given to the American Academy of Achievement said it all. Women have to apologize for their strength and fight for their power as their success is judged so differently than a man's. Reading this inspired me to get her movies and watch all of them in order with my mom. It has been really fun! Next it will be her music. One of the most interesting, fun, heartfelt books I have read. She is a genious! She is so talented, but makes it look so easy.

Took me a long time to finish the 900 pages and some were show business details that could have remained unknown. I was impressed and surprised at all of her famous lovers….Marlon Brando, Warren Beatty, maybe Pierre Trudeau and many others. I knew about her long time with Jon Peters but now what broke up the relationship. Losing her father at 1 1/2 years old and never having been hugged or told she was loved by her mother was hard to read. Then her stepfather telling her how ugly she was and how she would never succeed revealed how she had the fortitude to pursue her career…..afraid to sing in public, unsure of her talent and self-worth. She has been an idol to me since age 13 when her first album, I bought, came out….”My Name is Barbra”. Worth reading if a Barbra fan and how she overcame obstacles, fostered women’s independence and had personal impacts on her singing and movies.

Großer Fan seit Kindertagen, egal ob als Schauspielerin oder eben Sängerin. Allein die ersten Kapitel zur Kindheit sind so spannend (...geschrieben/erzählt....) und laden da und dort zum Lachen ein. Zeigt jedoch auch mit wie viel Willen und Durchsetzungskraft eine Frau damals ausgestattet sein musste, um ihren Weg zu gehen. Auch vor dem Hintergrund der Familie Situation. Dazu der jüdische Glaube, der dann und wann auch eine zusätzliche Herausforderung darstellte. Es zeigt noch mal klar auf, warum sie bis heute so erfolgreich ist, jedoch vielmals sehr selbstbestimmt Dinge umgesetzt hat. Persönlich liebe ich es Biografien in Englischer Original Sprache zu lesen und sie hat viel zu erzählen..... Es schult insgesamt die Fremdsprache und durch die Kindle "Erklärhilfe" werden auch eventuell fehlende Vokabeln verstanden, meist erklären sich einzelne weniger geläufige Vokabel jedoch aus dem Zusammenhang. Ergänzung: An der ein oder anderen Seite geht es schon extrem ins Detail. Für sie sehr wichtig, da sie alles erzählen wollte (was ein Gedächtnis......), für den Leser kann das jedoch anstrengend werden, da es einem selbst eher belanglos erscheint. Ich bin jedoch immer noch froh die englische Originalversion zu lesen und parallel immer das richtig Album/Soundtrack zu hören, welches in der Biografie seinen Platz findet.

What a source of joy and nostalgia this book has been to me! When I was in my late teens, I saw Funny Girl at my local theatre and from that point forward was a devoted Barbra Streisand fan. To be taken through Streisand’s life in this detailed and highly readable autobiography has provided an opportunity for me to revisit so much of her brilliant work and, by extension, my own life as a fan. While I read the book, I took the time to listen to the albums and watch many of her movies, in some cases for the first time in years. This is a massive and exhaustive account of her life and work, but always interesting and highly enjoyable to read. An unparalleled talent as singer, actor, director and producer, Barbra Streisand here reveals herself to also be a skilled writer and storyteller. This book is highly recommended to fans old and new.

This book is a fabulous read. Even if you're not a Barbara Streisand fan, which I most certainly am. She's so honest about everything. How she felt growing up and through her working life. Her fears and passions. It's a heartwarming insight to Barbra's life. I've never read an autobiography like it. A must read.

La biografia di una stella

I really liked reading about Barbra’s life. She’s such an amazing person who has done so much to entertain us over the years. She’s not only an actress and singer but a director, editor and philanthropist who strives to make the world a safer place for everyone. I admire her more than I ever did. There’s a chapter I particularly enjoyed at the end of the book where she speaks he mind about the slithering, creepy, orange, monster lurking in the White House.