BEA Opener
Book Expo America has hosted many big names as keynote speakers, each of them a rock star of their particular time, including Thomas Friedman, Alan Greenspan and Bill Clinton.
So, who uniquely represents the zeitgeist this time around?
Barbra Streisand.
And, the answer to your question is, “Yes, she is publishing a book,” her first one, called My Personal Passion for Style, coming in November.
Book Expo America will be held May 25 through 27 at the Javits Center in New York City. For the first time, it is being held midweek.
Below is the cover, from Viking’s fall catalog:
Viking; 9780670022137; $60.00; 288 pgs.; 350 4-color photographs and drawings.
The catalog copy describes it as,
A lavishly illustrated personal tour of the great star’s homes and collections
For nearly five decades Barbra Streisand has been one of the singular figures in American entertainment. From the cabaret to the Broadway stage, from television and film stardom to her acclaimed work as a director, from the recording studio to the concert hall, she has demonstrated that the extraordinary voice that launched her career was only one of her remarkable gifts.
Now, in her first book, Barbra Streisand reveals another aspect of her talent: the taste and style that have inspired her beautiful homes and collections. My Passion for Design focuses on the architecture and construction of her newest homes, the dream refuge that she has longed for since the days when she shared a small Brooklyn apartment with her mother, brother, and grandparents. A culmination and reflection of Streisand’s love of American architecture and design between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, the book contains many of her own photographs of the rooms she has decorated, the furniture and art she has collected, and the ravishing gardens she has planted on her land on the California coast. In addition to glimpses of her homes, Barbra shares memories of her childhood, the development of her sense of style, and what collecting has come to mean to her.
My Passion for Design is a rare and intimate private tour into the world of one of our most beloved stars. It will be welcomed by her many fans and all lovers of the great achievements of American design.