Review: Barbra Streisand: on the Couch – Dr. Alma H. Bond

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

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.

This is an excellent fictional account of what could have been a real account of a person who is on the couch of a psychoanalyst. Dr. Alma writes this story as if Ms. Streisand visits her office “for real” and then pulls the reader in and now you are a voyeur in each session.

If you like Barbra Streisand, as I do, you will enjoy reading this book as Dr. Bond weaves items she pulls from the news to make this a very realistic session. We learn about Ms. Streisand’s difficult childhood, her early career and the success she still enjoys today as a wife, singer, actor, director, activist and philanthropist.

I recommend you buy this book if you appreciate a good biography, even if it’s fiction.

Reviewed by: Linda C.

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