Review Roundup: Barbra Streisand Releases Her Memoir, 'My Name Is Barbra'

Barbra Streisand's long-awaited memoir is officially out today!

In "My Name Is Barbra," the EGOT winner tells her own story about her life and extraordinary career, from growing up in Brooklyn to her first star-making appearances in New York nightclubs to her breakout performance in Funny Girl (musical and film) to the long string of successes in every medium in the years that followed.

The 997-page book is, like Barbra herself, frank, funny, opinionated, and charming. She recounts her early struggles to become an actress, eventually turning to singing to earn a living; the recording of some of her acclaimed albums; the years of effort involved in making Yentl; her direction of The Prince of Tides; her friendships with figures ranging from Marlon Brando to Madeleine Albright; her political advocacy; and the fulfillment she's found in her marriage to James Brolin.

As the new memoir hits book shelves today, find out what critics thought below! Check back later as more reviews are released.

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Alexandra Jacobs, The New York Times: "Future editions, then, might excise some of the long block quotes of praise from her peers ... There’s something exuberant and glorious, though, about Streisand’s photo dump of self-portraits and party pics. Indeed about this whole dragged-out banquet of a book. You might not have the appetite to linger for the whole thing, but you’ll find something worth a nosh."

Brittany Luse, NPR: "In a society that tends to value women's passivity while lauding their accomplishments in hindsight, it's a distinct pleasure to look back with My Name Is Barbra and marvel at how the real she came to be."

Louis Chilton, Independent: "The thousand-odd pages in between narrate the life of a woman whose facial features could not have been more irrelevant to her gifts. Perhaps that’s ultimately the thing with My Name is Barbra: there’s no real way of translating Streisand’s captivating screen power to print. Even with 1,000 words more, I don’t think you could manage it."

Louis Bayard, The Washington Post: "In case you haven’t heard, Barbra Streisand’s memoir, decades in the making, has just landed like a meteorite in a bookstore near you. It is 970 pages long. (The audiobook is 48 hours.) I have spent the past several days reading it, so perhaps you don’t have to, though there is a lot to love in it (for everyone but Mandy Patinkin and some others)."

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