At Last: Streisand Memoir ‘My Name Is Barbra’ Coming Nov. 7

Barbra Streisand. (Getty Images)
Barbra Streisand. (Getty Images)
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At Last: Streisand Memoir ‘My Name Is Barbra’ Coming Nov. 7

Barbra Streisand. (Getty Images)
Barbra Streisand. (Getty Images)

Barbra Streisand's very long and very long-awaited memoir, a project she has talked about for years, is coming out this fall. Viking, a Penguin Random House imprint, will release “My Name is Barbra” on Nov. 7.

Her memoir, fitting for a superstar of the grandest ambitions, is listed at 1,040 pages.

“The book is, like Barbra herself, frank, funny, opinionated, and charming,” according to the publisher. “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.”

“My Name Is Barbra” also is the title of a 1965 Streisand album and television special.

Publishers have sought a Streisand memoir for decades, with the singer telling Jimmy Fallon in 2021 that Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis asked her to write one in the early 1980s, when the former first lady was an editor at Doubleday. During an Associated Press interview in 2009, Streisand mentioned that she had been writing chapters about her life, in longhand.

“I go back and forth,” Streisand said at the time. “Do I really want to write about my life? Do I really want to relive my life? I’m not sure.”

The memoir was first announced in 2015, and scheduled for two years later, although it didn’t have a title at the time. A reference to it on her web site, posted in 2015, was later pulled.

Financial terms for the memoir were not disclosed. Streisand was represented by Robert Barnett, the Washington attorney whose other clients have ranged from Barack Obama to Elton John.

Streisand, 80 has long been wary of discussing her private life, including her relationships with actor Elliott Gould and producer Jon Peters. She has been married to Brolin since 1998.



Where's Marty McFly's Guitar? Search Is on for ‘Back to the Future’ Prop 4 Decades Later 

Michael J. Fox arrives at “A Country Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's” in Nashville, Tenn., on April 26, 2023. (AP) 
Michael J. Fox arrives at “A Country Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's” in Nashville, Tenn., on April 26, 2023. (AP) 
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Where's Marty McFly's Guitar? Search Is on for ‘Back to the Future’ Prop 4 Decades Later 

Michael J. Fox arrives at “A Country Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's” in Nashville, Tenn., on April 26, 2023. (AP) 
Michael J. Fox arrives at “A Country Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's” in Nashville, Tenn., on April 26, 2023. (AP) 

Marty McFly grabbed a guitar in “Back to the Future” and rocked out with the band at a 1950s high school dance, helping him narrowly avoid blinking out of existence before time-traveling back to the 1980s.

The guitar, in real life, wasn't as lucky.

Filmmakers went looking for the instrument while making the movie's 1989 sequel, but even now it's nowhere to be found. Four decades after the blockbuster film debuted, the guitar's creator has launched a search for the iconic Cherry Red Gibson ES-345.

Gibson, which is based in Nashville, is asking the public for help tracking it down as the movie turns 40 and as the company produces a new documentary about the search and the film, “Lost to the Future.”

In a video by Gibson, with the movie's theme song playing in the background, “Back to the Future” stars such as Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Harry Waters Jr. make a cinematic plea. There's also a surprise appearance by Huey Lewis, whose band Huey Lewis and the News performed the soundtrack's headliner song, “The Power of Love.”

Lloyd, in the cadence of Doc Brown, says in the video that the guitar has been “lost to the future.”

“It's somewhere lost in the space-time continuum,” says Fox, who played McFly. “Or it's in some Teamster's garage.”

In the film, McFly steps in for an injured band member at the 1955 school dance with the theme “Enchantment under the Sea,” playing the guitar as students slow dance to “Earth Angel.” He then leads Marvin Barry and the Starlighters in a rendition of “Johnny B. Goode,” calling it an oldie where he comes from even though the 1958 song doesn't exist yet for his audience.

Fox said he wanted McFly to riff through his favorite guitarists' signature styles — Jimi Hendrix behind the head, Pete Townshend's windmill and the Eddie Van Halen hammer. After digging and dancing to “Johnny B. Goode,” the students at the dance fall into an awkward silence as McFly's riffs turn increasingly wild.

“I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet,” McFly says. “But your kids are gonna love it.”