The legendary Barbra Streisand has been one of my favorite
performers ever since I first heard sing, watched her
movies, and was entirely captivated by the singer's
glorious cover of her first album, which I saw many years
after it first came out. When I first saw Dr. Alma H.
Bond's book BARBRA STREISAND, it dawned on me that I knew
very little about Ms. Streisand. The On the Couch
is an interesting concept: Dr. Bond is a Doctor of
Developmental Psychology, but her biographies are mostly
written from the point of view of a fan, while using her
vast expertise to enlighten the reader as to the
significance of certain types of behavior from a
psychoanalytic point of view, and enabling us to look into
our own life as well. Don't get me wrong here BARBRA
STREISAND is far from a textbook as you can get; Dr. Bond,
in the guise of fictional Dr. Darcy Dale merely comments
once in a while to explain certain situations, and a few
times offers more details concerning a point of particular
interest.
BARBRA STREISAND is not an official biography, all the
sources used by the author are of the public domain and
clearly listed in the Bibliography at the end. Also included
is a brief glossary of Yiddish. In addition to the cover,
there are lovely black and white illustrations by Mary Grace
Corpus. BARBRA STREISAND is a fictional account of the
artist's year-long sessions with Dr. Dale. I had never read
a biography done this way; I thought it was very clever,
making it a livelier narrative. In fact, I liked the tone so
much from the beginning, that I actually didn't care about
the accuracy of the facts, because Dr. Bond captures the
mannerisms and persona of Ms. Streisand as if it were on
film, and it was all very entertaining. This BARBRA
STREISAND is as exuberant, irreverent, energetic, and
demanding as I imagine the real Barbra to be. The story is
told in the form of dialogues, each chapter consisting of
one session, and it's mostly chronological but occasionally
jumps a bit over the place, as is wont to happen. BARBRA
STREISAND was also very informative for me, as I learned why
Ms. Streisand gave up live concerts, which her start in show
business did not happen at all how I had imagined, and
sexism in the film industry.
BARBRA STREISAND is extremely well written; I would have
known immediately without any prompting which character was
talking because their voices are uniquely their own. If you
have ever heard Ms. Streisand's voice, you will understand
what I mean. The flow is never interrupted even when the
session comes to an end; it is so very easy to read, the
tone is so natural, and you truly feel that you are getting
to know this entertainment icon on a personal level. Even if
it is fiction, it never feels fake, and even though Dr. Bond
is a fan, she remains in character: Dr. Dale would not fawn
over a celebrated client -- even if she does a little,
internally.
Barbra Streisand has been a show business staple for
decades, from Funny Girl and Hello, Dolly! to The Way We
Were and, more recently, the Fockers franchise. Whether
gracing a stage, screen, or album cover, Barbra's iconic
silhouette is a globally-familiar image. We know Barbra the
star, but how well do we know Barbra the woman?
In Dr. Alma H. Bond's latest installment of her On the Couch
series, Dr. Darcy Dale―a renowned New York City
psychiatrist
whose expertise has been sought by such larger-than-life
women as Jacqueline Onassis Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, and
Hillary Clinton―is confronted by Barbra, dismayed after 30
years of minimally successful therapy. Over the course of a
year, Dr. Dale conducts an intimate psychoanalysis, breaking
through ego, defense mechanisms, and repressions to go deep
into the heart and mind of one of America's last remaining
superstars.
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