Book Review: Bette Midler’s A View From a Broad

Posted September 9, 2014 by Kathy Davie in Book Reviews

I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Source: the library
Book Review: Bette Midler’s A View From a Broad

A View From a Broad


by

Bette Midler


biography in a hardcover edition that was published by Simon and Schuster on April 1, 2014 and has 176 pages.

Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon


A brief documentary look into Bette Midler’s 1978 world tour and her musings, thoughts, and reactions.

My Take

Melodramatic and free-wheeling, ridiculous chatter that feels as though you’re listening to Midler talking at you. It’s crazy and revealing, sad and ditzy, happy and nuts, and too funny for words. Do be sure to read Midler’s “Band Application”. You’ll crack up.

An interesting tidbit about growing up in Hawaii surrounded by all that gorgeous color. It certainly makes sense about Bette, and I’m completely with her on this. Color is too important to ignore!

“Being moral isn’t what you do … it’s what you mean to do.”

Color and black-and-white photographs are scattered throughout the book. Pictures that will make you laugh out loud and others that will pull you in. Midler free associates in her humorous style about each country she visits with comments about the food, the money, going through customs, the audiences, styles, and more.

Midler doesn’t spare anyone, including herself. I particularly enjoyed her point about always taking characters on the road with her — masks she can hide behind. Reading her process for how she determined the identities of the characters was a fascinating look behind-the-scenes.

For the most part, the chatter holds together, although there are great lengths that you simply read without worrying about what it means. It’s rather scattered at times nor am I always sure what’s truth and what’s said for the fun of it.

The Characters

You all know Bette Midler.

Miss Frann Frank was her prim and proper companion and wardrobe mistress. She mentions her mother and her siblings: Daniel and her twin sisters, Judy and Susan.

The Harlettes are Katie, Franny, and Linda. At least to start.

Vilmos Angst is a determined film director.

Yes, there are more characters, but these were the ones who stood out.

The Cover and Title

The cover is a bright pink with Bette Midler in a mermaid costume, hip cocked, head shyly tilted, and arms raised in a Y-frame as though she’s holding up the Hollywood-lights title. It’s perfect.

The title keeps cracking me up for its literal and humorous interpretation, as this is indeed A View From a Broad.