I don't have this book yet but I've read the excerpts...

I truly love Barry and Barbara also. I've always loved Barbara, ever since I was a little girl, I wanted her to be my sister. I've always thought that she's just as beautiful on the inside as on the outside. It truly shows...

Heh heh, and Barry could be my brother. I love Barry's writing. It's personal and friendly, the feeling I get from it is that he's a very nice man. I love his voice also, as well as his acting. He is multi-talented...

Barbara definitely is BELOVED (and Barry too)...

I'm a fan, always have been. And hey! People may find it hard to believe, but I don't even have a single one of Barbara's movies or albums!

I was very poor and never could afford to buy much of anything (except for food, well actually, I always have bought lots of books). Recently though, my financial situation has changed (I'm very happy to say) and I plan on rectifying my dismal lack of a collection, having recently also purchased an absolutely awesome stereo system (finally)...

And I plan on buying Barry's book too!

P.S. I just can't finish this without adding that Barry was the best Pilate that there ever was...

There have been many Streisand biographies. She's accomplished so much in her life. Barry Dennen's sweet book MY LIFE WITH BARBRA is a slice of Streisand's life. It's also a snap shot of Mr. Dennen's life and contains many personal details about him. Dennen tells a good story and has an ear for dialogue. Of course, there is no way Dennen could remember the conversations he quotes verbatim - but I don't think he claims to. Rather, his book is a sort of "misty, water-colored" memory of the days in Manhattan with Barbra Streisand. He catches Streisand's cadences very well, though.

It's nice to hear about Streisand from someone who knew her personally. Everything I've always suspected was true - at least in her early career. Barbra was sweet and tough, ignorant and brilliant, self-absorbed and giving. She was very taken with her "look" and it's interesting to read about how she concentrated on her makeup and clothes so much.

The most fascinating part of the book is Dennen's recollections of some phone calls from the "adult" Barbra in 1992 and 1997. We see Barbra as we suspect she is: a little burdened with stardom; obsessed with the truth and trying to control how others tell it.

This book is great! At the end, I was most impressed that, despite the years that lapsed between Dennen and Streisand's love affair and friendship, Streisand still kept in touch. I suspect she is a loyal friend, despite her eccentricities.

I found this book to be very enjoyable. I have long been a Streisand fan and have read many of her biographies, but this one, I would have to say is one of the best. Dennen takes us thru Barbra's early years, when she was just starting out as an actress, and describes his part in pushing her toward being the greatest singer of our times. This book is very sweet and I definately recomend it to any Barbra fan.

Barbara Streisand isn't given her due for Her Films.this Book covers alot of Her Film Career! good Pictures&Reflections.

This book is an excellent insight into Barbra's film career. Lots of detail to the behind the screen stories. Many Classic picture's and hard to find shot's of Barbra. A must have for any Barbra Fan!!!

Calling all Barbra Joan Streisand fans! Now is the time to support the would be publication of a comprehensive resource guide to Barbra's extraordinary film career. If Citadel is unable to publish such a nifty volume, then we should let other publishers know that such a book would be of significant interest. I hope that it won't be long until Ms. Swenson and Mr. Nickens find a home for their work (and on a more personal note, I hope that the somewhat overlooked "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever" (1970) and the sadly neglected "Up The Sandbox" (1972) receive the glowing credit these two glorious films deserve.) I encourage other Streisand partisans to compose "reviews" of the book they'd most like to add to their library shelves.

Though it might not be Streisand's best album, "Till I loved you" is filled with great songs and duets. If your wildest dream was ever to join her, then you must get a copy of "Till I Loved You". We simply never were true die hard Streisand fans "till we loved you" . . . Even the few pictures in the book are worth a look at. Streisand at her best!

This is a wonderful collection of Broadway music arranged for the beautiful singing voice of Barbra Streisand. Try it for your own vocal pleasure.

This book presents the readers with interviews, magazine clips, articles written by friends and fans, and much more to hail the greatness of Barbra Streisand. I started this book out of curiosity and walked away a fan of this very talented lady.

When I found this book years ago in a book shop in my town I realized this was some kind of jewel, something special, different. Why? Well, it's not easy to find it in Spain, harder if you think of a small town like mine. I felt lucky, because the Streisand I found Through The Lens was different from the one I've always seen through the lens, the photos on magazines I mean. More human and, moreover, much greater star. I think photographers have taken good portraits of her, as they reveal her body and soul. Sir Cecil Beaton's portraits are just worth it!

I found the strongest part of the book was the early years - growing up in Brooklyn, and the determination to build an acting career. I was surprised that it was almost a revelation to Barbra that she might make a career out of singing, undertaken in order to keep the wolves from the door. I'm not an obsessive fan by any means but I found this book about a woman who is such an icon a good and meaty read. I kind of admnire her "obsessive" single-mindednessto achieve what she wants in her art. Not a hagiography, but a respectful look at an interesting and complex woman.

I am currently 12 years old and I am the biggest Streisand fan. I have been for over six years. I started to read this books in hopes to get an insight on how her life has been going, and what her dreams and aspects of the future where. As a result, I got exactly what I was hoping for. The book told about her childhood, and her ambition to become an entertainer, in a way that I could easily relate to I found this book very hard to put down, and I finished the almost six-hundred page book in less than four days. You don't really have to be a diehard fan of Barbra to enjoy this book, but it is helpful if you are. I reccomends this book to anyone 12 and up, because some parts may be hard to understand for younger children.

I am not a Barbra Streisand fan, so I went in with a biased mind set against the book from the beginning. I am happy to report that this is an informative and interesting book. Spada gave great detail into Barbra's life and captures the essence of her persona both good and bad. It was hard for me to put the book down. Worth a reading.

Barbra is a charasmatic lady with a magical voice that stays with you long after the song has ended. In this book, readers will find a very in-depth account of her career, love life, dreams, expectations, tribulations and achievements. Barbra has had some very infamous men by her side. I clearly remember her visit to my home province, Prince Edward Island, many years ago on the arm of our now deceased, former prime minister, Pierre Trudeau; they made a stunning couple. When the public showed up to welcome her, she was cold, stand-offish and seemed truly elated to be putting herself on her own pedestal far above the public and her fans. Maybe she was having a bad day? However, as an actress and singer, she has certainly made in mark in this world.

There is a side to Barbra that is funny, witty and a side that appears cold and distant. The author tends to reveal only her positive nature, and I guess if someone was to write a book about us that is the side we would want to be revealed. In any event, Barbra is who she is and when her it comes to her musical career, most will agree she is a tremendously talented lady.

I guess the problem with books about celebrities is that they always have a bias. I mean, writing a book is an enormous undertaking, so for someone to write a book about Barbra they realistically have to love her a lot or hate her a lot. Mr. Cunningham, it seems, neither loves Barbra nor hates her, he writes objectively not for himself, but for the rest of the world who very definitely has an opinion of her. I myself LOVE her. I don't know how to say it, but Mr. Cunningham has certainly helped me. He distilled her life into fewer than 300 pages. I could almost formulate an admiration for her that has taken more than thirty years to create just by reading this book.

I just finished Anne Edwards' biography of Streisand- in one day, and I am not even a fan of the woman. However, viewing Streisand through Edwards' eyes makes the reader root for the insecure teenager, the "homely" girl from Brooklyn, who despite a disturbing lack of support which started with her own mother's criticism of her career choice- managed to blast into world superstardorm as a Broadway headliner, bestselling recording artist and director, producer and star of her own Hollywood movies. She was a little girl who bought into the fantasy of movies- and was placed in the unique position to create fantasy herself, thanks to what Edwards calls her "chuptzah"- a winning mixture of charm, impossibly high standards, and absolute artistic control over every venture she undertakes. Edwards paints Streisand in bold strokes-quite subtly, with her warts and all. The reader may feel unsatisfied though, because although we get a thorough profile of Streisand the performer and businesswoman, it is still Barbra-the-human-being that is elusive. More insight into her relationship with her son, Jason (who happens to be gay) would have been in order. Regardless of these shortcomings- Edwards' biography triumphs as a beautifully written portrait of a wonderfully multi dimensional woman.

In order to be fair I read this book twice. I adore Babs--I live my life to be like hers; I want my resonance to sympathize with her resonance. I want people to spend time with me and to think that they have really been in the company of Babs. Or at least AS IF they had been in her company--I want to leave a similar impression. I really really really do. I approached this book in much the same way. I wanted to think that this book was in Babs' library. Instead, if anything, Edwards' treatment locates this book not in her library but perhaps in her pantry--right between that canned vegatable that the previous owners left behind and the cantalope pie tin. Edwards' doesn't get Babs' main rhetorical mechanism--of putting the world on the defensive to protect her from her own defensiveness. Edward's BUYS INTO Babs' mechanisms rather than calling them out. In a sense, Edwards argues for the grandeur of the Emperor's new clothes. I give it 5 stars because, as the other reviews attest, her fans want to be duped. Hence, I celebrate 5-star stupidity.

I read Edwards' rendition of Streisand on a full stomach--indeed, had I eaten one more bite, I would have choked in a way that would have repulsed the most sea-tested sailor. Perhaps it was this context--a context at once full and barren--that allowed me to plunge into Streisand's persona with such plodding, cautious, phobic zeal. Would this book answer the main question: is Babs a hapless victim; is she an innocent child; or is she an immature hapless brat whose very own defensiveness results entirely in her tireless attempts to put others on the defensive in her presence? Once you are certain the world revolves around you, to put others on the defensive is your only resort when an unnamed discomfort disturbs your fragile psyche--when for a passing moment the reality that you are not as great as you think you are dares manifest itself; and you, with just slightly greater impetus, dare not see it for what it is really is: a truth that threatens the (necessary) house of cards that you --and your adoring lemmings--call reality. Edwards' treatment here sidesteps these questions by becoming a literary lemming. Her introduction and her conclusion are like two pies on a ledge of a house: screaming the warning "don't jump around or the pies may tip over and fall!" Edwards is a fan. That is why this book is so excellent. She loves Babs. I do. You do. Babs does. Andre does. Our president does. Buy the book and share it with your OWN Babs. Cross the line. To make a connection. A Streisand Connection.

If you already own the original Scrapbook (which is a great read, no arguing there), don't bother buying this "revised and updated" version. The only "revised and updated" things in the book are a new chapter added to the end of the book that summarizes her projects over the past few years and a new cover . The first chapter of the book still states she is single...it has not been updated to reflect her marriage to James Brolin. Also, her discography in the book has not been updated to include her past several albums. This is just a few examples of the examples why this "updated" version is disapointing and not needed in your book shelf. Wait for a real updated version, I have no doubt that the author will update it again, as it seems to be a great and cheap way to earn extra money.

Allison Waldman's book is great for any Streisand fan. It is exhaustingly researched and as idiosyncratic as anything Barbra would produce.

The picture choices are wonderful - no run-of-the-mill API photographs here. Lots of rare and candid shots.

Allison does a particularly great job on the unreleased stuff (movies, songs).

This very detailed and descriptive analysis of Barbra Streisand's career by Alison J. Waldman. She examines almost every detail and aspect of Barbra's very large and extensive career. The part I enjoyed most was the music section where she describes the preparation of and commercial action of each of Barbra's CDs. It is nice to see how stars choose what songs and how all the songs work together. No less fascinating is the Movie section which is very comprehensive. Waldman even crafts a Scale rating the movies' many factors such as Longtime Durability and Success. For the private life, there is some spilling of the beans here and for projects Barbra could have participated in, one can imagine. The book also has a section that chronicles the top rumors of Streisand that are either proven or disproven. One can tell that the author is a fan of Streiand as she details many elements in a style and manner that is highly uncontestable among other biographers of not only Streisand but others as well. Also, the Bette Midler Scrapbook also by Waldman is a good read as well.