Susan Page's The Rulebreaker offers a smart and deeply reported biography of Barbara Walters, revealing the personal motivations behind her groundbreaking career in television. The book effectively portrays Walters as a force who not only paved the way for women in broadcasting but also redefined the landscape of the televised interview. Comprehensive in its exploration of her life and legacy, I’d recommend this for anyone interested in media history and compelling biographies about pioneering women.

Barbara Walters was a force to be reckoned with. She was the journalistic pioneer who singlehandedly smashed the glass ceiling that kept women from anchoring network news; over the years she would conduct television interviews with heads of state, criminals, otherwise reclusive stars, and anyone else she deemed newsworthy. She was ruthless in the pursuit of a story, but during interviews, she used velvet gloves to deliver the most searing questions, and her subjects responded.

My thanks go to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the review copy. This book is for sale now.

Page has written a full, epic autobiography, starting with Walters’s childhood, which was fraught with uncertainty, and ending with her death. She has written it the way the story of a luminary should be written, touching on the many remarkable aspects of Walters’s life without lingering too long on any one of them. She keeps the pacing brisk, and the tone respectful but frank, never fawning. I can’t imagine anyone doing a better job, including Walters herself; the autobiography, Audition, is the most cited source in the endnotes, but Walters had a tendency to drone while telling her own story, particularly about her childhood, while Page keeps it moving.

Walters grew up in a show business household; her father, Lou Walters, produced live shows, and when they were successful, the family lived in style; when they weren’t, it was hand-to-mouth genteel poverty. His gambling addiction caused the family terrible hardship on numerous occasions, and once she made it in the industry, Barbara was forever writing checks to bail him out of debt. Her younger sister, Jackie, was intellectually disabled, and needed constant care and attention. Barbara remarked that in looking back, she doesn’t feel that she was ever young, as she carried so many adult responsibilities at such an early age.

Breaking into mainstream journalism—not fashion or cooking stories, but hard news—was a tough road. She did it at a time when women weren’t expected, or allowed, to do much of anything outside of mothering, housekeeping, and a small number of stereotypical positions. Any female that dared step outside these tight confines was labeled, not as an attorney, manager, or journalist, but as a “lady journalist,” and so forth. Her job on the Today show was announced—with a bit of urging from Barbara herself—in the New York Journal-American thusly:

“’Dawn Greets Barbara, A Girl of Today,’” the headline over the story read. ‘A very attractive, shapely, well-groomed, coiffed and fashionably frocked feminine member of NBC’s dawn patrol” …adding that she had ‘no wish to become a personality.’ She wants to remain as she is…the prettiest reporter in television.’”

That didn’t last, if it was ever true at all. She fought, tooth and toenail, for every single advancement in her career; mainstream news anchors, male of course, resented her and resisted her, particularly when she was hired to appear as a co-anchor. Her early career was marked with restrictions, with Harry Reasoner and Walter Cronkite subjecting her to endless bullying and requirements of when she could speak on the air—not until they had—and other petty, petulant rules.

But she never gave up, and she never went home.

As is often true for anyone that lives for their career, Walters wasn’t able to maintain any of her marriages or raise her own child. She was busy. This is the one regret she voiced at the end of her life, when she found herself alone, with only her longtime paid assistants to see to her needs.

Page narrates her own audiobook, which I checked out from Seattle Bibliocommons in order to catch up, and I immediately noted how much her voice and intonations resemble those of her subject, albeit without the speech impediment. I enjoyed listening to her.

Perhaps my favorite moment in this book is the moment when a very elderly Barbara Walters falls on a marble staircase after refusing to take the arm of the younger woman offering it. She faceplants, is badly injured, but when she regains consciousness, the first thing out of her mouth is an imperial order: “Do not call an ambulance. Do not call an ambulance.” (Of course they did. They had to.)

Although Walters was never a feminist crusader and generally looked out for herself, her family, and friends rather than her younger peers, we women owe her a debt of gratitude. She forced doors open that were bolted shut, and the ripple effect was immeasurable.

Highly recommended to those interested in Walters, feminist history, and anyone that just enjoys a good biography.

I didn’t know much about Barbara Walters before reading this other than Barbara Walters is a famous journalist, seeing her on TV growing up. She broke barriers as a woman on TV, did things women had never done before in journalism, and was able to earn respect of viewers everywhere. What a great tribute to Walters!

Susan Page did a great job capturing the life and experiences from Walters. I appreciate her writing and how she highlights the life of influential women. It never felt dull or boring and I really enjoyed reading this book!

Barbara Walters was a woman to watch - and I did throughout my days growing up. If she could do it, maybe there was a chance for me to move outside the boundaries all the men in my life set and dictated I stay within. All with well-meaning intent and even love and affection. They were protecting me. Mostly. Maybe.

She was quirky - I got that, but in every age of my life, she showed that powering through was the best way to get something done. We never met, but her mark is on me, and I'm better for it. This read total confirmed everything I felt about her. She is inspiring. She was tough. We were different in many, many ways. But her yearnings, hopes and dreams sprang from the same place mine did and do, and whenever like-minded folks band together and disregard fear, the "do nots", and all the "you can'ts", "you aren'ts" and "not good enoughs", - a lot CAN get accomplished.

All the stars for a well-written book, even-handed, calling a spade a spade. Kudos to Ms. Susan Page and her reportage on this rulebreaker - Barbara Jill Walters.

*A sincere thank you to Susan Page, Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.*

Fighting misogyny, antisemitism, and the apathy of the public was one helluva training ground for becoming a powerful presence on the US cultural map. Her drive, and her zeal for journalism as a contact sport, were unprecedented in the pop culture of the 1960s. Her success was fueled by huge ambition...she would not fail in her duty to her chosen calling, like her father had done, and she would use every ounce of her will to make things happen her way.

These qualities are, annoyingly, still considered male. She out-manned the majority of men, then, and did it in a skirt and heels. It seems to me it's time to put down the bludgeon this kind of thinking represents to knock women back into antique roles that make "men" (boys, really) feel comfortable. Walters was a power in politics, a power in entertainment, and used her power to influence people to think. Even her celebrity interviews were impactful, raising or restoring some to new or renewed influence. She didn't lie to the people, she asked honest questions, and she never showed up unprepared.

The main thing I think made her a legend was her careful control...of herself, of her material, of her image. She didn't love Gilda Radner's SNL character "Baba Wawa" yet, when sending a condolence note to Radner's widower, she signed it "Baba Wawa"...and made sure this fact was known. Careful image curation is not the sole province of today's influencers. Her clarity of thought when she was at her peak was unrivaled. Even in later years her ability to present questions her audience would really like the answers to made her a popular figure on the cultural landscape.

Like all driven people, she left damage in her wake. She was rubbish as a mother, shouldn't've adopted a child; she was not a good wife, or a good partner, but there's no one to blame for that except societal expectations. No one ever whinges about the failings and failures of famous men in those regards. She was a force of nature. Those people are hurricanes, tornados, epic tsunamis. They aren't domesticated or domesticatable.

I suspect I'd've disliked the woman had I ever met her. She comes across in these interviews and the author's analysis as the kind of self-absorbed person who ignores you unless you're immediately useful. I dislike and mistrust those people. I can admire what she did without having warm personal feelings for her. Trailblazers and groundbreakers burn and break; it's in the epithets. Comfortable friends? Not likely. Powerful allies? Yes indeed, and that's enough! Adjusting expectations to match what's really there, what's on actual offer, is a key skill in the life of a person who sees a need for change and sets out to effect it.

Read this careful, honest, thorough story of one remarkable woman's life to feel inspired yourself. Gift it to your girlchild who is nosy, noisy, and obstreperous, that she may channel her talents into service. We need women to ask questions and require answers to them just like Barbara Walters did. We need women to confront idiots and show them up as idiots just like Barbara Walters did. Showing your girlchildren that it's been done, and done well, is a great way to get them to do the same.

Who knows who they'll end up photographed next to, or whose highlight reel they'll be responsible for, or whose foolishness they'll expose to end it? Barbara Walters had pages and pages and pages of evidence she had made a difference before she died. An ambition to be like her isn't a bad thing to ignite in young women.

A thorough and honest account of Barbara Walters’s life and career that I found (for the most part) enjoyable and engaging. My foremost critique is that the book is a biography of Lou Walters for the first several chapters - and I completely understand why (it comes full-circle later on) - but it was pretty slow to get into because of this. I did really like the insights into specific interviews and relationships, and feel like I need to read her memoir next. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

A biography that makes a fitting tribute to its subject - Page does not shy away from showing the imperfections that accompanied Walters' many triumphs. The book does a fantastic job at revealing the anecdotes and behind-the-scenes drama that satisfies our curiosity for gossip, but without becoming tawdry and lessening Barbara's legacy of achievement. Deeply reported and deeply engaging.

I loved learning more about Barbara Walters and her life. While I do not typically read biographies very frequently, this one was interesting and worth a read!

I learned a lot about Barbara Walters. As a 90s kid seeing her on TV was a staple of my childhood. Because generally once 20/20 aired it meant it was time for me to head to bed.

Susan Page has done a really good job of pulling together the contradictions and drivers behind Barbara Walters. The anecdotes are fantastic and the background on Walters' family life really helps you to understand what motivated her.

This is a well written and comprehensive biography of Barbara Walters. There is so much I did not know about her and her life until reading this book. I admire her for what barriers she had to push through as a woman in journalism at that time. She definitely paved the way for other women. What I did not admire about her (and this book shows warts and all!) was some of the scheming and undercutting of others in her rise to the top. Towards the end of the book I found myself getting bored with some of the details of interviews (such as with Monica Lewinsky) - maybe because I had watched many of her interviews over time and did not feel I really gained new insights from these chapters (except her machinations to secure these interviews). Her rivalry with Diane Sawyer is also well outlined here.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC and I voluntarily left this review.

This book covers so much of Barbara Walters' life. I had no idea she has such a rich but complicated childhood growing up with a father who ran and promoted night clubs in NYC and Miami. It was a point of contention with her, not having a 'normal' father like everyone else while he was out late working at his club. It does seem to have given her a level of comfort with famous and high profile personalities and probably helped her later in life when she was such a gifted interviewer.
If you enjoyed watching her on 20/20 and The View, this is a great read. It goes to show you that you know know what is underneath the surface of most people and that it took a lot of guts and ambition for her to get where she got in her career.

I knew of Barbara Walters for years. I admired her work and her tenacity. She was strong willed and exceled. But she wasn't who I thought she was. And I was shocked that she didn't know what she wanted to do with her life when she graduated from college. I wonder how many other people thought she had a plan in place and stuck to it?

This book is interesting and easy to read. Very enlightening.

This book will be enjoyed by people who followed Walters’s career over the years as well as journalism/media students who want to understand what it was like to be a woman in the news business during her lifetime. Page has conducted many interviews, researched extensively and relied upon Walters’s own book, Audition.

Readers learn about Walters’s public life and work in great detail. They will also find out about her early life, the adoption of her daughter and all that motivated her.

Those who enjoy reading biographies and/or are interested in women in the media will want to take a look at this one.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this title. All opinions are my own.

When I was young I thought I wanted to be a journalist and Barbara Walters was one of the people I most admired. That dream changed for me, but I was still happy to have the chance to read this biography of one of my idols.

This book provided an in depth look at Walters life from her homelife growing up all the way through to her death. It provided the insight into how her young life at home helped to create the drive that made her the best and kept her striving for more. Barbara's career was filled with roadblocks thrown up due to the fact that she was the first woman to do many of the things she attempted. Since she had grown up in show business she was able to use her background to help advance her career. It had taught her to think differently than some of the existing journalists of the time and to approach things a different way. Her amazing tenacity and determination to get an interview no matter what it takes made her many enemies in her peer group. I was stunned by the distain some of the men had for her. I was also surprised at the frenemy relationship with Diane Sawyers. Competition breeds resentment that is difficult to handle.

The book was well written and flowed easily. I was totally absorbed in the story of Barbara Walters life I didn't mind at all the book was rather long. It kept my attention and provided a great deal of information. It was certainly well researched.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster through Netgalley for an advance copy.

Barbara Walters has been a prominent journalist all of my life. In spite of that, I didn’t know much about her personal life. In this book, Susan Page documents Barbara’s life from childhood to her death. She was certainly a driven, strong woman who knew want she wanted and was motivated to go for it. Barbara’s father played a huge part in shaping her life.

The book covers a lot of ground from Barbara’s work relationships to her romantic and personal life. So many names mentioned in the book—some I was familiar with and many others I had never heard of because hey weren’t in the limelight.

As Barbara aged and became more successful, I was more familiar with her work. She had such a strong work ethic and worked as long as she could. Near the end of the book it was sad to read of her decline and her struggles to stay relevant.

I found this to be an excellent biography and detailed look into the life of Barbara Walters and would like to thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to offer my honest review and recommend this to other readers.

Very readable biography. Details of Barbara Walters’s unusual and dysfunctional childhood gives an idea of how far she was able to come. Fighting to get recognition every step of the way, we see her failures and successes.

This was an interesting read. I could have used the pictures in the middle of the book but they were a nice surprise at the end.

The Rulebreaker, I was intrigued enough to read this biography which is full of information probably most never knew.

Baarbara Walters had an unfortunate childhood but was able to go very far and break barriers for many others that followed after her. None of us really know the people that we follow or watch with anticipation for what they will say or do next. Most of them do not live up to the pedestal we put them on. I did not find this to be riveting in spite of all the information provided.

An extraordinary book about a fascinating life. Barbara Walters enlightened and entertained millions of us. No one has taken her place even though she inspired many to follow in her footsteps. The author’s inclusion of footnotes and list of people she interviewed is helpful in understanding where her detailed research added to the book. Thanks to #NetGalley and #TheRulebreaker for advanced digital copy.